By Andrea Hargraves 
Sonae Sierra sold the Continente do Colombo property to the Union Investment Fund.
Without disclosing the value of the deal, the German fund clarified in a statement that the asset – which has a total area of 23,445 square meters – will be under the management of Sonae Sierra.
One of the largest in the country is the Continental Hypermarket, which was opened in 1997, when the Colombo Shopping Center also opened its doors, which has a total of 300 tenants.
This is Union Investment’s first investment in a retail asset in Portugal. Laura Roll, chief investment officer at Union Investment, said the deal was “a great opportunity for the future to diversify the fund’s portfolio of assets” in the Iberian Peninsula.
“With the acquisition of Continente in Colombo, we are bringing together two main axes of our retail investment strategy, which includes bringing together, on the one hand, the FMCG retail market, and on the other hand, premium shopping malls. We will continue to selectively expand our portfolio in both areas,” he said. Roman Mueller, Senior Investment Director, Union Investment.
With 50 years of activity, the Frankfurt-based fund owns 479 properties in nine countries, with an estimated value of €54.4 billion.