December 22 (SeeNews) - Belgian retail group Louis Delhaize has signed a sale & lease back transaction with Austrian group Supernova for its real estate portfolio in Romania, the retailer's unit cora Romania said on Wednesday.
Louis Delhaize will continue to operate the six cora hypermarkets associated with the transaction in an anchor-tenant mode, cora Romania said in a press release.
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The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
"I am delighted that the solid development of our group continues and that now we can obtain a significant presence on the market in Romania. cora is an important partner, with great projects, in very attractive locations. We are confident that in the near future we can improve all the centers together and make them even more attractive," Supernova Group CEO Frank Philipp Albert said.
Supernova is committed to investing at least 40 million euro ($45.2 million) to renovate all shopping centers and add major extensions to some of them in the following 3 to 5 years.
"This sale & lease back operation opens a new chapter in cora's retail business, as it gives us the opportunity to focus on developing our business footprint. We made this decision after carefully evaluating the group's real estate assets in Romania and we see it as an important advantage for future local development," cora Romania CEO Thierry Destailleur said.
The Louis Delhaize Group has been present in Romania since 2003 with the cora brand. Supernova is an international company focused on the development and management of commercial real estate in Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Romania.
($=0.8854 euro)