Blackstone and Multi Acquire Palmanova Outlet Village and AVM in Italy

LONDON & AMSTERDAM--()--Multi announces the acquisition by Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe IV of Palmanova Outlet Village, a 22,000 m2 high-quality outlet centre located between Trieste and Venice. The village opened in 2008 and hosts over 90 retailers, including Calvin Klein, Nike, Adidas, Guess and Tommy Hilfiger and generates approximately three million customer visits per year.

As a result of this acquisition, Blackstone now owns a portfolio of five upmarket factory outlet centres throughout Italy1, located in Lombardy, Tuscany, the Venice region and Puglia. The platform, one of the largest in Italy, totals 150,000 m2 with approximately 650 shops, and welcomes 15 million visitors a year. Annual sales across the platform are close to € 400 million. Blackstone was advised on the acquisition of Palmanova by Cushman & Wakefield.

Paolo Bottelli, Chairman of Multi Italy: “With the acquisition of Palmanova Outlet Village, we have strengthened our position as a leading owner of factory outlet centres in Italy. This unique asset provides a compelling opportunity to further upgrade the retail offering for both our local customers and tourists.”

Acquisition of AVM in Italy

Multi also announces the acquisition of Added Value Management Srl (“AVM”), an established Italian company specialising in the management of outlet centres. Founded in 2009, AVM was the external manager of Blackstone owned outlet centres. Multi will rebrand its new subsidiary into Multi Outlet Management Italy. Under the leadership of Mr Dario Pistone, former director of AVM, Multi Outlet Management Italy will become Multi’s specialist factory outlet centre team, focused on creating value across Blackstone’s factory outlet portfolio in Italy.

Multi Outlet Management complements Multi’s activities in Italy alongside the existing asset and mall management business under the leadership of Mr Luca Maganuco.

Jaap Blokhuis, CEO of Multi Corporation, said: “We are delighted to add the team from AVM into the Multi family, further enhancing Multi’s capabilities across the retail spectrum, and extending our reach into factory outlets. With 12 centres owned across Italy, generating close to € 960 million of retail sales and almost 45 million annual visits, our presence in Italy now spans the full complement of shopping centres, neighbourhood retail centres, and factory outlets.”

About Blackstone Real Estate

Blackstone is a global leader in real estate investing. Blackstone’s real estate business was founded in 1991 and has more than $ 93 billion in investor capital under management. Blackstone’s real estate portfolio includes hotel, office, retail, industrial and residential properties in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Major holdings include Hilton Worldwide, Invitation Homes (single family homes), Logicor (pan-European logistics), SCP (Chinese shopping centres), and prime office buildings in the world’s major cities. Blackstone real estate also operates one of the leading real estate finance platforms, including management of the publicly traded Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT).

About Multi

Multi is a leading owner and manager of high-quality shopping centres across Europe and Turkey. As a well-capitalised, growth-oriented retail platform, Multi is focused on creating, managing and improving sustainable rental income. Multi’s projects are often the catalyst for economic growth and social regeneration of cities and regions. Since its foundation in 1982, Multi has been responsible for more than 180 projects. As per April 2015 Multi owns and/or manages 82 shopping centres. Multi is active in 12 countries, including the Netherlands, where the company has its headquarters. Other countries in which Multi is active include Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Turkey. 
www.multi.eu

1 Franciacorta Outlet Village, Mantova Outlet Village, Palmanova Outlet Village, Puglia Outlet Village, and Valdichiana Outlet Village

Contacts

For more information or images:
Blackstone
Andrew Dowler, +44 (0) 20 7451 4275
andrew.dowler@blackstone.com
or
Multi Corporation
Barbara Voskuil, +31 (0)20 25 88 100
bvoskuil@multi.eu

Contacts

For more information or images:
Blackstone
Andrew Dowler, +44 (0) 20 7451 4275
andrew.dowler@blackstone.com
or
Multi Corporation
Barbara Voskuil, +31 (0)20 25 88 100
bvoskuil@multi.eu