The brand-new property will consist of over 200 well-appointed rental and freehold apartments and is located in the growing and dynamic neighbourhood of Barkarbystaden, in close proximity to Citycon’s existing necessity-based assets in Kista and Jakobsberg.  Barkarbystaden is one of northern Europe's largest and most expansive urban development areas.

The transaction has been structured as a forward commitment, whereby Citycon will make a deposit of EUR 6.6 million once construction begins in February 2022 and fund the remaining purchase price, pro-rata, at the completion of two construction phases in Q1/2024 and Q2/2024. The closing of the transaction will be after the completion of each phase with no additional obligations from Citycon before construction of each phase is complete.

“We are very pleased with the acquisition as it strengthens the market around our existing necessity-based assets in the area, while furthering the development of our residential portfolio and providing another concrete example of how we are diversifying our income by increasing the share of residentials in our portfolio,” says Erik Lennhammar, Citycon´s Chief Development Officer.

Also, Citycon has signed an agreement to opportunistically sell two non-core shopping centres in Norway for approximately EUR 145.4 million (based on exchange rates as of 3 February 2022), corresponding a net initial yield of 5.2% and in line with the latest IFRS valuation of book value. According to the agreement, Citycon will divest Buskerud centre to Aurora Eiendom AS and Magasinet centre to Oslo Opportunity II AS and Vedal Investor AS. The transaction is estimated to close during Q1/2022.

“These divestments continue to follow Citycon’ s strategy to efficiently recycle capital out of non-core assets in order to narrow our focus on larger, grocery and municipal service-anchored urban hubs with direct connection to public transportation and development potential. Furthermore, the transaction highlights the attractiveness and desirability of high-quality, Nordic retail assets to investors. The proceeds from this transaction allow us to further strengthen our investment grade balance sheet and provide the flexibility to pursue targeted and disciplined acquisitions such as the Barkabystaden residential deal, which showcases efficient capital recycling and a commitment to enhancing our existing necessity-based urban hubs, while diversifying the income of our portfolio through an increasing share of residentials in our portfolio,” says F. Scott Ball, Citycon’s CEO.