Clifford Chance advises Aware Super on its investment in the €2.6 billion European Outlet Mall Venture platform

Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised Australia’s third largest superannuation fund, Aware Super, on its acquisition of a 31.3% stake in the European Outlet Mall Venture (EOMV) platform from Allianz accounts managed by PIMCO. Aware Super has partnered with Dutch pension fund, APG, and a French institutional investor in the pan-European real estate joint venture.

The EOMV platform owns and operates four outlet malls worth c.€2.6bn in total, spanning the Netherlands, Austria and Italy. The four outlet centres comprise 163,523 square metres of retail space with 24.6 million annual visits, including Serravalle Designer Outlet in Italy (which ranks among Europe’s top three outlets), Castel Romano Designer Outlet in Italy and certain phases at both Designer Outlet Roermond in The Netherlands and Designer Outlet Parndorf in Austria. This strategic investment reflects Aware Super’s geographical diversification strategy and selective re-entry into retail.

The cross-practice Clifford Chance team was led by Corporate Partner Riaz Pirmohamed, supported by Associates Liam Porritt, Alice Butcher and Jeremy Pui.

Angela Kearns, Partner; Zain Farook, Senior Associate; and Vivian Griffiths, Associate, advised on the property aspects of the transaction. Tax advice was provided by Edward Page, Partner, and Viktoria Parkhomenko, Senior Associate. The wider team consisted of colleagues across Antitrust, Corporate, Real Estate, Global Financial Markets and Employment, including Sue Hinchliffe (Antitrust), Saskia Myners (Corporate), Claudio Cerabolini (Real Estate) and Liesbeth Buiter (Real Estate), all Partners.