Canadian mall giant Ivanhoe Cambridge is understood to be putting Madrid Xanadu on the market for a reported 鈧�500 mln.
The sale of the 152,000 m2 shopping centre, situated 29 kilometres outside downtown Madrid, is likely to be one of the biggest deals in Spain this year and could mark a record for the sale of a Spanish mall.
However, commentators said that the centre might not attract as much attention as Barcelona's Diagonal Mar recently did.
Northwood's 87,000 m2 urban mall in the 22@ district of Barcelona received around 15 bids and was eventually sold to Deutsch Bank for 鈧�495 mln at the start of August, making it largest shopping centre transaction in Spain in recent years.
Sources said that Xanadu's out of town position and diminished supremacy in the area might affect investor interest.
Ivanhoe's new-build broke the mould on its launch in 2003 by providing an innovative artificial ski-slope and year-round Sunday trading. However, the centre lost this advantage when regional president Esperanza Aguirre liberalised trading hours.
It is currently understood to attract around 13.1 million visitors a year, while Diagonal Mar received 17 million visitors last year and generated a record 鈧�20 mln in sales.
Xanadu's 210 shops and restaurants include Inditex Group stores, H&M, Apple and Primark. The centre also comprises a Hipercor and El Corte Ingles department store, assets which will remain outside the transaction.
Other recent Spanish mall deals have included CPPIB's acquisition of a 50% stake in Puerto Venecia for 鈧�225m from Intu last year, and the purchase of Megapark Barakaldo by Gruppo Lar, a Spanish developer and investor.
