Mercialys Ramps up Its Development With the Acquisition in Two Phases of the Investment Management Company Imocom Partners, the French Retail Park Market Leader
September 12 2023 - 11:45AM
Business Wire
Regulatory News:
Mercialys (Paris:MERY) is announcing today that it has signed a
firm agreement with a view to acquiring the investment management
company Imocom Partners. The transaction is structured in two
phases. In 2023, Imocom Partners’ shareholders will sell 30% of its
capital to Mercialys for a price of Euro 7 million. The remaining
70% will be acquired by Mercialys during the first half of 2025
following an interim period during which the current management
team will accompany and support the company’s development. The
price for this second tranche will be adjusted in line with the
performances of the investment management company and the
underlying fund. Each of these two stages is subject to prior
authorization from the French Financial Markets Authority
(AMF).
Imocom Partners manages the OPPCI fund ImocomPark, whose shares
are reserved primarily for institutional investors and family
offices. This fund, with a maturity of 2032, holds a portfolio of
33 retail parks in France, with a total rental area of over 385,000
sq.m, let to around 400 tenants. The fund’s assets represent a
value of Euro 670 million including transfer taxes and generate
Euro 40 million of annual rental income. Thanks to Imocom Partners’
continued development since it was founded in 2011, this management
company is today positioned as a market leader in the retail park
segment.
This investment will enable the two companies to develop a
partnership, while ensuring compliance with the regulations
concerning potential conflicts of interest and the independence of
Imocom Partners for managing the OPPCI fund. The sites managed by
Mercialys and Imocom Partners share core features on a number of
different levels, making it possible to capitalize on their
respective areas of real estate know-how: anchoring in out-of-town
areas in key consumption areas of urban hubs, accessibility of the
retail offering and rents for retailers, proximity-based retail
mixes aimed at satisfying essential everyday needs.
The value creation for the two companies will include stronger
visibility in relation to tenant retailers and extended digital and
environmental expertise, as well as an increased capacity to carry
out retail or mixed real estate development projects in a context
of the greater importance of ensuring effective control over
artificial ground cover.
Mercialys and Imocom Partners believe that the retail real
estate sector has solid fundamentals over the medium term and
opportunities to generate value supported by the context of
pressures on land reserves, linked in particular to the French
“Climate and Resilience” Law. The development of new retail
property funds therefore represents a major potential source of
value creation. Mercialys will be able to invest, alongside
institutional investors, in new funds created by the investment
management company.
Vincent Ravat, Mercialys’ Chief Executive Officer: “Through this
operation, Mercialys will benefit from revenues generated by the
investment management company’s activity, as well as a stronger
presence alongside retailers and investors, and the capacity to
invest in portfolios of retail real estate assets looking beyond
its own capabilities. Mercialys will also be able to make its
extensive range of expertise in terms of lettings, asset
management, marketing or CSR available to support the funds
managed. This will move forward while ensuring compliance with the
regulations governing the investment management company for
outsourcing tasks or functions. By 2025, Mercialys will become the
sole shareholder of Imocom Partners. Between now and then, we know
that we will be able to count on the current management team’s
experience and quality to continue actively developing the
company”.
Bruno de Scorbiac and Laurent de Sayve, co-founders and managers
of Imocom Partners: “Mercialys’ arrival in our capital highlights
the confidence of this major retail real estate player in our
positioning and the continued growth of our activities. We will
combine our expert capabilities and benefit from Mercialys’
experience to take a further step forward with our development,
enabling us to move more quickly and go further, benefiting our key
stakeholders, tenant retailers, end consumers, communities and
investors”.
On this operation, Mercialys was supported by Lacourte Raquin
Tatar for legal, regulatory and tax aspects, Mazars for financial
aspects, and Flichy Grangé for social aspects. The sellers were
advised by Rothschild & Co, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and
Impulsa.
* * *
This press release is available on
www.mercialys.com.
About Mercialys Mercialys is one of France’s leading real
estate companies. It is specialized in the holding, management and
transformation of retail spaces, anticipating consumer trends, on
its own behalf and for third parties. At June 30, 2023, Mercialys
had a real estate portfolio valued at Euro 3.0 billion (including
transfer taxes). Its portfolio of 2,054 leases represents an
annualized rental base of Euro 172.8 million. Mercialys has been
listed on the stock market since October 12, 2005 (ticker: MERY)
and has “SIIC” real estate investment trust (REIT) tax status. Part
of the SBF 120 and Euronext Paris Compartment B, it had 93,886,501
shares outstanding at December 31, 2022.
About Imocom Authorized by the AMF, ImocomPartners is an
investment management company that has invested since 2011 in
retail parks on behalf of institutional investors and family
offices. Through its management of one dedicated vehicle, the OPPCI
investment fund ImocomPark, the company develops a responsible
model with its stakeholders that combines financial performance
with social and environmental value creation. With a portfolio of
Euro 670 million including transfer taxes invested in 33 retail
parks and 386,000 sq.m of space under management, ImocomPark is
positioned as the leading OPPCI fund focused on retail parks in
France.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION This press release contains certain
forward-looking statements regarding future events, trends,
projects or targets. These forward-looking statements are subject
to identified and unidentified risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from the results
anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Please refer to
Mercialys’ Universal Registration Document available at
www.mercialys.com for the year ended December 31, 2022 for more
details regarding certain factors, risks and uncertainties that
could affect Mercialys’ business. Mercialys makes no undertaking in
any form to publish updates or adjustments to these forward-looking
statements, nor to report new information, new future events or any
other circumstances that might cause these statements to be
revised.
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Analyst and investor Olivier Pouteau Tel: +33 (0)6 30 13
27 31 Email: opouteau@mercialys.com
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