The M&G European Property Fund has continued to deploy its assets in Europe with more than EUR100m-worth of property acquisitions in response to investor demand for exposure to core, well-let property assets in the region.

The Fund, which is co-managed by David Jackson and Rob Tidy of PRUPIM, has procured two shopping centres in Brussels and Thionville in northern France along with a hypermarket in Neuwied, Germany.

According to Tidy, investors remain risk averse in the current economic environment and place particular value on funds with exposure to prime assets. "The purchase of these three northern European assets reflects institutional investors’ continuing preference for core European property over exposure to riskier assets and locations,” he says. “Well-let properties in excellent locations in the stronger northern European markets help us to achieve our aim of delivering core levels of return with the added benefit of geographical diversification. In line with our acquisition strategy, we will continue to identify suitable defensive assets in France, Germany and Scandinavia, which can deliver value over the long term.”

The acquisitions include:

• Galerie Toison D’Or, Brussels. The 14,487 sq m fully-let prime retail shopping centre in the heart of Brussels was purchased from ING Real Estate and the Gillion Family for EUR61m. CBRE advised the vendor. Cushman & Wakefield advised the fund.

• Toom Hypermarket, Neuwied, Germany. Fully let to Toom, a renowned German hypermarket brand, the 11,000 sq m asset was purchased from Versorgungswerk, a German pension fund for EUR13.9m. Cushman & Wakefield advised the fund.

• La Cour des Capucins shopping centre, Thionville, France. The 8,813 sq m centre was  purchased for EUR31.2m. DTZ Asset Management advised the fund. The vendors, Altarea Cogedim, were advised by Easton Corporate Finance.

The M&G European Property Fund was launched in 2006, with a mandate to invest in a diversified portfolio of assets in mature European markets outside the UK. It has grown to around EUR800m and in the last 12 months inflows have totalled more than EUR270m from UK and European investors.