Intu adds Madrid shopping centre to portfolio

Shopping centre group Intu has confirmed that it has exchanged and completed contracts with the Ivanhoé Cambridge Group to acquire Xanadú shopping centre in Madrid, Spain.

The deal, which includes the shopping centre along with the associated management company and the SnowZone operating company, is valued at 530 million euros.

Intu said the centre itself, excluding the management company and SnowZone business, was externally valued on February 1, 2017, at 526 million euros, representing an initial yield for the centre of 4.3 percent based on annual net rental income of 23 million euros.

The commercial property company said a 263 million euros, five-year term loan with Santander, BBVA, Credit Agricole and Caixabank had been secured on the asset, with the all-in cost of debt estimated to be about 2 percent.

David Fischel, Intu chief executive, said: "The acquisition of Xanadú is an excellent addition to Intu’s growing portfolio of leading regional shopping centres in Spain, taking our ownership to three of the country’s top ten centres and now including one in the country’s capital city.

“Xanadú’s market position as an attractive shopping and leisure destination covering a major sector of Madrid fits well with our strategy of focusing on prime regional shopping centres in both the UK and Spain.”

Fischel added: “We see a number of compelling opportunities to further enhance Xanadú’s status, such as improving the leisure and catering offering, with a Nickelodeon theme park and an aquarium due to open in 2017, and ensuring an enticing retail mix, which we believe will drive increased footfall and dwell time and ultimately improve rental levels and capital values.”

Located in the south-west area of Madrid, Xanadú is the major shopping and leisure destination in its core catchment of 1.2 million people that covers some of the wealthiest areas of the city. The shopping centre spans over two levels and includes key retailers including El Corte Ingles, Zara, Primark, H&M, Apple and Mango.