Carlyle's Euro fund strikes first deal in Italy

The US firm is investing part of its European fund, the €2.2bn Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners III, on a retail development expected to be complete by the summer of 2009. The deal is part of a wider project to redevelop the coastal strip of Vado Ligure, near Savona.

Global private equity firm, The Carlyle Group, has inked a preliminary agreement to acquire a company that owns retail development, Le Terrazze di Vado, in Italy, on behalf of Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners III (CEREP III).

The centre currently under construction is located in the municipality of Vado Ligure, in the province of Savona.

It is the first investment in Italy by CEREP III, which closed on €2.2 billion ($3.4 billion) in June this year. The value of the deal has not been revealed.

In a statement, Carlyle said there was strong mid and long-term demand from retailers and consumers for large-scale quality retail projects particulalrly in areas of Italy where there is little retail competition. It said several local and international retailers had shown interest in letting units at the shopping centre, including the sports company, Decathlon which has signed for 3,000 square meters of space.

The centre will have a total of 21,000 square metres of space when complete in the summer of 2009. It is part of a wider project to redevelop the coastal strip of Vado Ligure, in the region between Savona and Bergeggi, added Carlyle.

In recent weeks, the firm has invested in a site in Dusseldorf, Germany, where it plans on demolishing a property when tenancies expire in August 2009, and a site in Salford Quays in Manchester, UK.