Intu venture to buy mall in Spain

[LONDON] Intu Properties plc, the UK's biggest shopping-centre owner, agreed to buy a mall in northern Spain for 162 million euros (S$274 million) in a venture with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to grow its business in continental Europe.

The partners will seek bank financing for about 50 per cent of the value of the 75,000-sq-m centre in Oviedo, Spain, they said in a statement yesterday.

"The opportunity to acquire Parque Principado, a top 10 centre in Spain, on attractive and earnings-accretive terms firmly establishes our presence on the ground in a country where we see considerable growth opportunities," chief executive officer David Fischel said in the statement.