Zwickau, Germany – ECE Real Estate Partners announced today that the ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund II acquired Zwickau Arcaden shopping centre from Ivanhoé Cambridge for an undisclosed price. Following the acquisition, ECE will take over the management and leasing of the centre.
Located in Zwickau, Saxony’s fourth largest city, Zwickau Arcaden is home to 65 shops and businesses that fulfill fashion and short-term daily consumer needs. Designed around the idea of “shopping lanes”, Zwickau Arcaden offers a blend of local and family shops that create a highly appealing shopping environment, and attracts on average 6 million people per year.
“The acquisition of Zwickau Arcaden adds another attractive, established shopping center to the portfolio of the second Fund,” says Dr. Volker Kraft, Managing Director of ECE Real Estate Partners, which established both ECE Funds. “With its central location and strong market position, Zwickau Arcaden has all the attributes for a successful and stable further development.”
“This transaction is in line with our strategy to reposition some mature assets and reinvest capital into strategic products or opportunities in key European cities like Paris and London,” said Meka Brunel, Executive Vice President, Europe, at Ivanhoé Cambridge.
ECE was advised by White & Case, EY and Drees & Sommer. Ivanhoé Cambridge was advised by CBRE, Allen & Overy, PwC and Valteq.
About ECE
ECE has been developing, building, leasing, and managing shopping centers since 1965. The company is European market leader for shopping centers with 196 shopping centers under management (43 of which are managed by MEC METRO-ECE Centermanagement GmbH & Co KG) and is active in 15 countries. On an overall sales area of around 7 million square meters, about 20,000 retail tenants generate approximately 23 billion euros in annual sales in all ECE centers combined. Among these centers are Milaneo in Stuttgart, Aquis Plaza in Aachen, Promenaden at Leipzig Central Station, and Marmara Park in Istanbul. A number of shopping centers are currently under construction or planned throughout Europe, among them Loom in Bielefeld and Verona Adige in Italy. ECE also develops other commercial properties in its business areas Office, Traffic, and Industries, such as the new Germany headquarters of Philips in Hamburg, ThyssenKrupp Quartier in Essen, and the Steigenberger Hotel at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport.
ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Funds I and II, set up by the fund management company ECE Real Estate Partners, invest in existing shopping centers in Europe. The first Fund manages a portfolio of twelve shopping centers in Europe worth more than 2 billion euros. Since the beginning of its investment period, the second Fund has already acquired Stern-Center in Lüdenscheid, Zielone Arkady in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz, and La Cartiera in Pompei in Italy.