European Mall REIT Sells Norway Malls for $336 Million

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Europe's second-largest publicly traded shopping mall operator has sold four shopping centers in Norway for 247 euros ($336 million) in an effort to raise funds for future projects in Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

Paris-based Klepierre announced its subsidiary Steen & Strom sold 90 percent of the four properties to Partners Group and Sektor Gruppen.

The four shopping centers accounted for 1.8 percent of the rental income for Klepierre in the first nine months, the company said.

The disposal is part of the company's plan tp enhance the portfolio. Last year the firm announced a plan to raise 1 billion euros from assets sales by the end of this year, Bloomberg reports. In October, the REIT had reached 900 million euros of assets sold since the announcement.

By the end of June, Klepierre had a portfolio valued at 16.2 billion euros made up mostly of large shopping centers in 13 countries in Europe. Its largest shareholders are Simon Property Group, the world's largest mall operator, and BNP Paribas, according to the company.