A consortium led by Grosvenor Fund Management (GFM) has acquired two shopping centres in France from European listed real estate giant Unibail-Rodamco.

The shopping centres, located in Marseille and Chalons en Champagne, complete the second phase of the acquisition of a EUR 416 mln portfolio of retail properties in France and Sweden.

The consortium has acquired the 10,000 m2 Marseille Bonneveine shopping centre and the 11,160 m2 Chalons Croix Dampierre shopping centre. The total investment by the consortium was EUR 148 mln. Both schemes are anchored by a Carrefour hypermarket.

The consortium comprises GFM, Bouwinvest REIM, on behalf of BPF Bouw, the Dutch pension fund for construction workers, and a major Canadian institutional investor.

GFM, part of the UK-based international private property group Grosvenor, manages two retail specific funds and other retail properties with total retail assets of EUR 1.4 bn in Continental Europe.

Bouwinvest is a Dutch independent real estate investment manager with EUR 5.3 bn of assets under management. Bouwinvest's clients are institutional investors, with the Dutch pension fund of construction workers as anchor investor.

The consortium was advised by Freshfields, Cushman & Wakefield, Etudes Allez & Associés, KPMG and Turnbull Associés.