CPPIB continues to invest internationally
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and its partner Cyrela Commercial Properties have invested $400 million in a new Brazilian office joint venture.
CPPIB has acquired a 33 percent interest in CCP’s Brazil-based office portfolio and CCP has acquired CPPIB’s 50 percent equity stake in their existing logistics joint venture.
The new joint venture will focus on further investments in top-tier office properties in Brazil.
The CCP office portfolio is one of Brazil’s largest, with 12 class A properties located primarily in Faria Lima, São Paulo’s prime office district. It totals 975,000 square feet of leased space and is 90 percent leased.
CCP’s office portfolio has historically outperformed the overall class A Brazilian office market, maintaining high occupancy levels particularly in properties located within the supply-constrained Faria Lima market. CCP will continue to manage and operate the properties.
CPPIB said it delivered gross investment returns of 1.9 percent in the latest quarter, with the strong Canadian dollar hurting its performance. It ended the second quarter on June 30 with net assets of C$326.5 billion ($257 billion), up from C$316.7 billion on March 31.
Recently, Island Star Mall Developers, a retail development investment platform of CPPIB and the Phoenix Mills, purchased a land parcel in Pune, India, for about $32 million. The acquisition, Island Star’s first, will be used to develop a second PML shopping mall location in the city. In April, CPPIB bought an initial 30 percent stake in Island Star and agreed to invest $330 million to grow the stake to 49 percent. The combined investment will support acquiring, developing and operating retail-led, mixed-use developments across India.
And in the United Kingdom, CPPIB through its wholly owned subsidiary, CPPIB Credit Investments agreed to provide a £250 million ($322 million) subordinated facility to intu properties. The subordinated facility will support intu’s corporate business plans and is indirectly secured by intu Trafford Centre in Manchester.
Manchester’s intu Trafford Centre is a 1.9 million-square-foot super-regional, prime shopping center, and one of the U.K.’s top five shopping centers, counting many leading global retailers among its tenants. The property houses more than 230 stores, as well as more than 65 catering and leisure units, across its four arcades and two floors.
For its infrastructure portfolio, CPPIB recently acquired Calpine Corp. for $5.6 billion. CPPIB will make the investment as part of a consortium comprised of funds advised by Energy Capital Partners and other investors.
In addition, CPPIB partnered with Allianz Capital Partners to buy a minority equity interest in the Spanish gas distribution business of Gas Natural Fenosa. CPPIB and Allianz will invest €$1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) to acquire a 20 percent stake in the unit, the largest gas distribution network in Spain, serving some 1,100 municipalities.
