List of 3 Large Shopping Mall Investors in Europe

This piece of research will discuss three retail real estate investors that are active in the European market. Despite struggling during the covid-19 pandemic, in 2022 investments in the retail sector grew by 15% to €37.2bn which is similar to levels in 2019 pre-pandemic according to research carried out by UK real estate firm JLL. All of the retail real estate investors included in this article can be found on our list of the largest European retail real estate investors.

1) CC Real (Vienna, Austria)

CC Real is a large-scale investor in European commercial real estate assets across Europe. Since its establishment in 2006, the Austrian group has developed a €2.7bn portfolio spread across 900 shops and 5 countries. Some of the countries include Finland, Austria, and Croatia. The retail real estate investor has been particularly active in the latter country, having invested €435m across three Croatian shopping centers.

2) Merlin Properties (Madrid, Spain)

Based in the capital city of Spain, the real estate investor specializes in the acquisition and management of commercial and retail assets. Merlin is listed on the Spanish stock exchange (IBEX-35) and Portuguese. The Spanish group boasts an impressive retail portfolio with a total of 500,000sqmt and is based in some of the biggest Spanish cities such as Valencia, Madrid, and Barcelona.

3) Deka Immobilien (Frankfurt, Germany)

Deka Immobilien is the real estate investment division of the German conglomerate Deka Group. With over 50 years of experience, the Frankfurt-based group has gained experience in all sectors of real estate, mainly focusing on offices, hotels, retail and logistics assets. With regards to retail the firm targets properties starting from €30m and joint ventures from €250m. Deka has developed an impressive retail portfolio with sites in the US, Ireland, Italy, Austria, and Sweden. 2022 represented a busy year for the firm, the retail fund acquired eight retail assets for €1.8bn and sold seven for €400m.

Picture source: Mostafa Meraji (01.05.2023)