VIA, which was formed in order to
take advantage of the current growth in European outlet center
shopping, has purchased the Freeport Portfolio of outlets from the
Carlyle Group. The purchase includes Alcochete Outlets in Portugal,
Excalibur Outlets in the Czech Republic and Kungsbacka Outlets in
Sweden. All three outlet locations provided an initial yield of 8%
and promise attractive prospects for future returns.
Upon its creation, the VIA group
purchased Batavia Stad Outlets in Amsterdam and Fashion Arena Outlets
in Prague. Hammerson is the majority partner in the VIA group, owning
47% of VIA Outlets and all newly acquired properties. Thus, it will
contribute €57 million towards the purchase of the Freeport
Portfolio. Since the creating of the VIA partnership, the group has
invested over €300 million into acquisitions and owns 21,000 square
meters of retail space. Of VIA’s investments to date, Hammerson has
contributed €103 million.
The newly-acquired Alcochete Outlets
are located near Lisbon, Portugal’s capital city. The center has
over 170 shops spread throughout 55,700 square meters of retail
space. Major shops in Alcochete include Burberry, Carolina Herrera,
Diesel and Armani. It is the best performing outlet center in the
area, and its 2014 sales density is forecasted to be nearly €3,000
per square meter. Alcochete makes up the lion’s share of the
Freeport Portfolio’s purchase price and is expected to provide the
greatest returns to VIA. At this time, the VIA group has plans to
relocate and improve restaurant offerings in Alcochete and to add a
new mix of up-and-coming international fashion brands to the retail
offerings. They are particularly looking to increase Alcochete’s
marketing to tourists, as Lisbon is popular with visitors from Spain,
Germany, France and even South America.
The Kungsbacka outlets in Sweden are
located about 20 minutes away from the country’s second largest
city, Gothenburg. This area has Sweden’s second highest level of
average income, and Kungsbacka uses brands like Hugo Boss and Nike to
appeal to the area’s well-to-do shoppers. This outlet center
incorporates over 16,000 square meters of retail space to appeal to
its clients.
The final outlet center in the
Freeport Portfolio, Excalibur Outlets, is located along the Austrian
border in the Czech Republic. It contains 21,000 square meters of
outlet space and is dominated by the athletic brands that appeal to
the area’s shoppers.
VIA Outlets has set up an advisory
board to guide the strategic direction for the project and to approve
business plans for each of the three new outlet groups. The VIA group
is confident that, with the leadership of the advisory board, this
new venture will be an extremely profitable one.
