Citycon has today signed an agreement to acquire 75 per cent of the
shares in the Swedish real estate company Balticgruppen Handels AB
from Balticgruppen AB for approximately SEK 490 million (ca EUR 53.3
million). The real estate company owns the shopping centre Strömpilen
and the Länken retail property in Umeå, the most rapidly growing
urban community in northern Sweden. The acquisition also offers the
opportunity for a major expansion and development of both properties.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions such as municipal
approvals and is expected to close by the end of July. This
investment is expected to be accretive to Citycon's future earnings
per share.
Shopping centre Strömpilen is the leading shopping centre in Umeå,
with a commercially outstanding location close to the city centre and
university campus area. Its gross leasable area is around 25,000
square metres, comprising some 22,300 square metres of retail
premises. A two-phase expansion project is planned for the shopping
centre. The first phase, an extension worth approximately EUR 14.5
million, involves the development of the property and an increase in
the leasable area by some 5,000 square metres. The planned second
phase will further expand the shopping centre area by around 20,000
square metres.
The shopping centre's anchor tenant is the hypermarket ICA Maxi,
other tenants include strong, well-known chains such as
Systembolaget, the Swedish alcohol monopoly, Elgiganten, the
electronics and home appliance retailer, and the clothing retailers,
Lindex and H&M. Preliminary figures for 2006 suggest that some 2
million customers visited the shopping centre, generating total sales
(incl. VAT) of over SEK 600 million. The centre's occupancy rate is
close to 100 per cent.
Länken is a modern retail property located in the Ersboda Retail Park
area, close to Umeå city centre. The property consists of two
buildings, with a total leasable area of about 7,200 square metres.
There is also the possibility to expand Länken with a new building of
some 5,000 square metres. At present, both buildings have one tenant:
Willy's (Axfood) and the hardware store, Jula. The occupancy rate is
100 per cent and the number of parking spaces 190."As a growing university city, Umeå fits well in our strategy to
focus on large cities and growth centres. This city can be
characterised as the economic engine of the whole of northern Sweden
with a population of over 111,000, and growing steadily", says Ulf
Attebrant, Citycon's Vice President, Swedish Operations. "Strömpilen
and Länken properties are also strategically ideal for Citycon's
property portfolio, as they offer solid cash flow and outstanding
development opportunities."
Umeå is a new territory for Citycon in Sweden, in addition to the
Stockholm and Gothenburg areas, where the retail sales have grown by
almost 35 per cent over the last three years. Including Strömpilen
and Länken, Citycon owns 15 shopping and retail centres in Sweden.
Helsinki, 25 May 2007
CITYCON OYJ
Petri Olkinuora
CEO
For further information, please contact:
Ulf Attebrant, Vice President, Swedish Operations, tel. +46 8 522
80 313
Mobile +46 703 415 317
Petri Olkinuora, CEO, mobile +358 400 333 256
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