Cyrela to invest US$ 122 million in shopping mall in SP
Valor Econômico
Another big shopping mall will be built in the city of São Paulo, where Multiplan's Vila Olímpia shopping mall has just been opened. Cyrela Commercial Properties (CCP) sent Bovespa, yesterday evening, a communication informing it has entered into a commitment for the purchase of a land lot located at Marginal Tietê, in the Northwest side of the city of São Paulo, comprising the neighborhoods of Freguesia do Ó, Pirituba, Limão and Parque São Domingos.
Including the amount disbursed in the purchase of the land, which has not been disclosed by the company, a total of nearly R$ 210 million (US$ 122 million) will be invested in the shopping mall that will have 36 thousand square meters of gross rentable area (GRA) and nearly 200 stores. "With that undertaking, CCP ratifies the intention of investing in the sector of shopping malls, which has already been signaled in meetings with investors", said Bruno Laskowsky, President of CCP. The acquisition also weakens the perception that CCP may be a possible target of acquisitions in the shopping mall sector, which is going through a process of concentration.
The Cyrela brand is better known for its residential real properties. The company has only three shopping malls and its attempts in such segment have not been the most successful in the past. In the capital of São Paulo, the company owns the TIM Expo and Shopping D, which was born with a commercial center of discount stores. The company also controls the ABC Plaza mall that will go through works of expansion, and it will have 15 thousand square meters of GRA added to it.
But with the new "boom" of the shopping mall sector, started in 2006, Cyrela decided to strengthen its presence in such market and started competing with the large companies of the field, such as Multiplan, BR Malls, Iguatemi, Brookfield (former Brascan) and Ancar. CCP had already announced the construction of Shopping Center Matarazzo, in downtown São Paulo, whose project is awaiting the approval of the municipal agencies. The undertaking that will be built in a partnership with Camargo Corrêa is budgeted at nearly R$ 150 million (US$ 87.2 million).
According to Laskowsky, so far the company has no partners in the acquisition of the land and in the construction of the new shopping mall at Marginal Tietê, in São Paulo. Nonetheless, the financial structure of the business is already guaranteed. CCP is a shareholder of a US$ 400 million fund, of which the Singapore Sovereign Fund and the Canadian Pension plan are also shareholders. The funds to finance the new projects willcome, in part, from that fund. The real estate portfolio of CCP is estimated at R$ 1.63 billion (US$ 947.7 million).