According to a Firce Capital press release issued on 10 March, Belval Plaza counts 37,150 square metres of floor space, 1,200 parking places and 6.5m visitors per year.
Dutch investors exit
Belval Plaza was built by Dutch investors led by an outfit called Multiplan. In February 2019, the ex-head of Multiplan was sentenced to 2 years in prison for misappropriating nearly €25m in funds, per Le Quotidien. The newspaper quoted him blaming “incompetent partners” on the project. The website and phone number of that company did not function on Wednesday.
Another original Dutch investor was a real estate investment fund run by Propertize (formerly known as SNS Property Finance and prior to that as Bouwfonds, and now a unit of the private equity firm Lone Star Funds). A Propertize representative confirmed the sale by telephone on Wednesday.
Firce Capital did not disclose the name of the seller in its announcement, but a press representative later confirmed in an email to Delano that it was a Lone Star real estate fund.
Buyer: location has “enormous potential”
The shopping centre, which first opened in 2008, is located near the Rockhal music venue, Esch-Belval train station, University of Luxembourg Belval campus and RBC office complex. The area was formerly an ArcelorMittal steelworks.
In the Firce Capital press release, Christophe Fournage, the company’s president, stated that “the Belval Plaza shopping center has enormous potential for development and growth”.
Firce Capital is a real estate investment outfit active in Luxembourg, France, Portugal and Spain. The firm said it manages “more than €2bn in assets” (including projects under development) and “more than 400,000 square metres” of property.
Firce Capital acquired Belval Plaza with Savile Capital and Rebus. The press release said financing was provided by Banque Internationale à Luxembourg and a syndicate led by SCOR Investment Partners SE, China Construction Bank Europe SA and Bank of China Limited. The sale was handled by the real estate broker JLL. Clifford Chance and Schroeder & Associés acted as advisors.
Fournage told Delano on Wednesday that “the value of the transaction is confidential.”