Italian hypermarket operator CoopEstense has completed the sale of the retail gallery within the Mongolfiera shopping centre in Surbo, near Lecce in Southern Italy, to a closed-end fund managed by Schroders. The transaction price amounts to around EUR 49 mln.

The retail gallery is anchored by an Ipercoop food store and offers around 11,000 m2 of gross lettable area distributed over 40 shops.

The sale was managed by CB Richard Ellis on behalf of CoopEstense. Law firm DLA advised Schroders on legal issues.

The acquisition is the latest addition to Schroders' Italian real estate portfolio. The UK asset manager unveiled plans last year to invest up to EUR 450 mln in the Italian commercial property market after raising EUR 180 mln of equity from a range of European institutional investors for its Schroder Italian Property Fund II.

The company's latest activities for the fund include the acquisition of a modern office building of some 12,300 m2 located in the San Donato district of Milan for EUR 36 mln as well as the sale of Le Vele shopping centre in Cagliari, on the Italian island of Sardinia to Dutch retail investor Corio.