Unibail to sell French Nicetoile mall in $390 million deal

Paris-based property company Unibail-Rodamco SE has announced plans to sell Nicetoile shopping center in the French city of Nice.

The buyers are Allianz SE and Hammerson PLC. Allianz will purchase 90% of the French mall, while the rest is being bought by Hammerson, who will go on to manage the complex. 

It is the 3rd shopping mall sale that Unibail-Rodamco has confirmed in the last 4 few months. Back in February the firm said that it would sell off malls valued at up to €2 billion in order to concentrate on its bigger assets. This selling off was planned to take place over the next 5 years.  

In fact, this new deal pushes the value of malls sold by Europe’s largest property company over the €2 billion mark. Christophe Cuvillier is the Chairman and the Chief Executive of Unibail-Rodamco. He said that this new deal – valued at €312.5 million ($390 million) – “largely completes” the firm’s anticipated streamlining of its portfolio of shopping malls across France. The net initial yield on this deal has been calculated by the selling firm as being 5%.

The Nicetoile mall includes a total of 15,389m2 of retail area, while there is also office space adding up to 2,018m2. Among the top brand names represented here are Swarovski and Sephora, with a variety of restaurants and cafes in addition to the stores. The shopping mall receives an estimated 13 million visitors every year.  It is centrally located in the main shopping area of the French coastal city and is a short walk from the main train station.  

Last month Unibail-Rodamco announced the sale of 6 of its shopping malls in France to Wereldhave NV, for a cost of €850 million. A few months earlier it had agreed a deal to sell 6 of its other malls to Carmila in a deal worth €931 million.