This operation should take place «on the three markets on which it operates»: Madrid, Barcelona and Paris.
In Paris, the assets to be divested should already be identified. According to Property EU, Colonial should place on sale the 6.700 sqm office building located at number 9 Avenue Percier, currently occupied by energy Foundation Électricité de France, and the 10.000 sqm 9-floor building located at number 131 Avenue Wagran which serves as the headquarters of TV5 Monde. These two divestments alone, which should be carried out by the company’s French subsidiary Société Foncière Lyonnaise, should earn the REIT 100 million euro.
The assets to be placed on the market in Madrid and Barcelona were not disclosed yet, but during the announcement of the group’s results, the REIT revealed that until December it should divest a further 64 million euro without specifying where.
With this strategy, Colonial intends to «optimise the quality and returns of its portfolio increasing, even more, the relevance of the prime offices' segment with interest revenues adjusted to risk». And, on the other hand, these operations are important to «free capital to reinforce the capital structure and maximise profitability for Colonial’s shareholders».
It should be recalled that during the pandemic, Grupo Colonial divested more than 240 million euro in non-strategic assets, corresponding to 11 assets with a total combined area of 223.543 sqm above ground. In particular, the company sold Hotel Mojácar, an 8 asset logistic portfolio with 193.590 sqm and two secondary office buildings in Barcelona (Berlín-Numancia and Plaza Europa, 40-42, which have a total combined area of 18.150 sqm).
