Extending its international property reach, a new partnership between a subsidiary of China Investment Corp, China’s US$740 billion sovereign wealth fund, and affiliates of AEW Europe, has acquired a portfolio of 10 shopping centres in France and Belgium from CBRE Global Investors on behalf of its CBRE Retail Property Fund France Belgium CV.

Valued at more than €1.3 billion (US$1.4 billion), the roughly 221,000-square-metre Celsius Portfolio includes interests in two dominant prime malls in Belgium: the Waasland Shopping Centre located in Sint-Niklaas near Antwerp and 100 percent owned by RPFFB, and the Wijnegem Shopping Centre, which is 50 percent owned by insurance company AXA.

The portfolio acquisition also marks CIC’s first real estate deal in France. The remaining eight assets are located across the country, including the large urban shopping centres La Vache Noire in Paris and Centre Mayol in Toulon, as well as inner-c