Allianz Real Estate has provided its first direct property loan in Sweden, financing a retail asset.
The property arm of the German insurer said provided a SEK690m (鈧�73m) loan for the refinancing of the Bergvik shopping centre in Karlstad, owned by Eurocommercial Properties.
Helmut Muehlhofer, head of the debt team in Munich, said: 鈥淭his transaction presented a good opportunity for Allianz Real Estate to close a first financing deal with Eurocommercial in Sweden and to further diversify the investment portfolio geographically.鈥�
The 33,000sqm asset is anchored by supermarket chain Coop and 70 additional tenants.
Allianz said the mall鈥檚 location was strengthened by the presence of an IKEA store, making it a dominant retail location in V盲rmland.
Eurocommercial has owned part of the asset since 2005, buying the fully refurbished second part late last year.
Speaking on a panel on the changing nature of retail at the annual conference of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) in Paris , Jeremy Lewis, chief executive at Eurocommercial Properties, said: 鈥淭he internet has been around for 10 years, and yes, it鈥檚 a factor. But I鈥檓 not convinced people are making a lot of profit out of online (retailing).鈥�
Allianz Real Estate refinanced a French office portfolio for listed property company Eurosic.
The German insurer said it provided 鈧�163.4m of debt backed by a portfolio of nine core office assets.
