IMMOFINANZ acquires another retail park in Italy and expands market leadership in Europe

IMMOFINANZ is consistently expanding its leading role as Europe's largest retail park operator as part of its growth strategy. The number of STOP SHOPs will be increased by roughly 40% to 140 locations by 2024 based on selective acquisitions and new openings. In doing so, the company will also focus on Italy, where ten new STOP SHOP retail parks will be opened by 2024. With the acquisition of a retail park in Udine, IMMOFINANZ is now taking another important step in developing the Italian growth market.

After successfully entering the market in the second half of 2021, IMMOFINANZ has acquired another high-quality retail park in the northeast of Italy from a London based private equity firm. The Terminal Nord retail park in Udine comprises rentable space of roughly 33,000 sqm with a total of 36 shops, making it the largest retail park in the STOP SHOP portfolio to date. The expected annual rental income amounts to approximately EUR 5.6 million.

"Our STOP SHOPs are an optimal combination of local supply, enjoyable shopping experience and lifestyle. During the COVID-19 pandemic they proved to be crisis-resilient and are equally popular among tenants and customers. Therefore, this is the right time for us to develop further markets based on this convincing and successful platform. The Italian market, one of the largest in Europe, offers great potential to do so," Dietmar Reindl, member of the IMMOFINANZ Executive Board, commented on the most recent acquisition in Italy.

Diverse tenant mix on more than 33,000 sqm
The future STOP SHOP Udine is very conveniently situated in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Located directly on the main road leading to the center of Udine, the property is also easily accessible by public transport. The catchment area covers around 300,000 people within a 30-minute driving distance.

The retail park opened in 2008 and impresses with its broad range of national and international tenants. The Carrefour hypermarket, accounting for 30% of the rentable space, is the anchor tenant in the food sector. Tenants such as Decathlon or Euronics have also proven to be extremely popular and attracted nearly 1.6 million visitors from January to October 2021. Other tenants include Burger King, Douglas and Takko as well as Italian brands such as Globo (fashion) and Dondi Salotti (furniture). The average unexpired lease term (WAULT) amounts to 7.7 years.

Green technologies as a key criterion
IMMOFINANZ focuses on high sustainability standards in the construction and operations of its retail parks. As a core element of its net-zero emission strategy, IMMOFINANZ drives its own renewable energy production, for example by installing photovoltaic systems on the rooftops of the STOP SHOP retail parks and building new locations exclusively with photovoltaic equipment. In keeping with this strategy, it was ensured that the installation of photovoltaic systems on the roof and consequently a conversion to renewable energy sources is also possible at the newly acquired property in Udine. This will be implemented in the short term. Other activities such as the expansion of charging stations or resource-saving water and waste management will also be implemented at the new location in line with group-wide measures.

Profitable and crisis-resistant asset class
With 100 STOP SHOP retail parks in ten European countries, IMMOFINANZ is a leading provider of local supplies. The retail parks offer a wide variety of products and good value for money. In addition, this asset class has proven to be crisis-resistant and generated excellent returns thanks to strong demand. As part of its growth strategy, IMMOFINANZ plans to expand its STOP SHOP portfolio to 140 locations by 2024. Italy is one of the countries the company focuses on in this effort. As growth potential is considered to be very high here, IMMOFINANZ plans to invest approximately EUR 250 million in purchasing existing and building new retail parks by 2024, thus establishing a STOP SHOP portfolio of at least ten locations in Italy.

The STOP SHOPs currently in the portfolio had an occupancy rate of 99.0% and a return of 8.1% based on invoice rents as of 30 September 2021. Including the most recent acquisition, IMMOFINANZ's STOP SHOP portfolio comprises 100 retail parks (standing investments) in ten countries: Slovakia (16 STOP SHOPs), Slovenia (14), Hungary (14), Serbia (14), Austria (13), Czech Republic (12), Poland (10), Croatia (4), Italy (2) and Romania (1).

On IMMOFINANZ
IMMOFINANZ is a commercial real estate group whose activities are focused on the office and retail segments of eight core markets in Europe: Austria, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and the Adriatic region. The core business covers the management and development of properties, whereby the STOP SHOP (retail), VIVO! (retail) and myhive (office) brands represent strong focal points that stand for quality and service. The real estate portfolio has a value of approx. EUR 5.0 billion and covers roughly 210 properties. IMMOFINANZ is listed on the stock exchanges in Vienna (leading ATX index) and Warsaw. Further information:

For additional information contact:
Bettina Schragl
Head of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
IMMOFINANZ
T +43 (0)1 88 090 2290
M +43 (0)699 1685 7290