Macquarie Continues Expansion of Mexican REIT with Double Retail Center Acquisition
The Macquarie Mexican REIT recently announced that it has agreed on a fee for the purchase of two commercial properties in Mexico City’s metropolitan area.
By Alex Girda, Associate Editor
Mexico City—The Macquarie Mexican REIT recently announced that it has agreed on a fee for the purchase of two commercial properties in Mexico City’s metropolitan area. The amount paid by the investor to the selling entities, both of which are controlled by Fodo Comercial Mexicano, stands at around 2 billion Pesos, or around $153 million.
The two retail properties involved in the transaction are the Tecamac Power Center and Coacalco Power Center. The two properties will expand the REIT’s portfolio by 1.4 million square feet. At the time of the transaction, Tecamac and Coacalco had an average occupancy rate of approximately 98.7 percent. According to projections by Macquarie, the new properties will add around $12.7 million of net operating income, and the transaction could be funded via existing capital. However, MMREIT has chosen to fund a part of the purchase fee through a new asset-level debt facility that is under negotiation. A separate fund level facility is also currently being taken into consideration, and will be used to finance any related VAT on the transaction.
According to Jaime Lara, CEO of the Macquarie Mexican Real Estate Investment Trust, the acquisition is part of the company’s “strategy of building a national retail platform, adding two properties that are located in the strongest retail market in Mexico with excellent long term fundamentals.”
The company recently acquired another retail and office portfolio in the Mexico City metro area, as well as a 15-property industrial portfolio. Once the transactions close at the beginning of Q4 of 2013, the MMREIT will include 267 industrial, retail and office properties totaling 31 million square feet of gross leasable area.
