Carlyle Group refinances Freeport
Published: 02 November, 2011
Freeport has announced the completion of its successful refinancing with new investment provided by a Middle East sovereign wealth fund.
Following the refinancing, it has also created a new entity for Freeport’s property management team, Freeport Retail, to provide specialist outsourced asset management services and is actively working with real estate investors across Europe.
Freeport has seen success in its performance since its acquisition by Carlyle four years ago, growing revenues and income every year since, and the full year results for its financial year ending June 2011 have shown its best ever profitability, with a 22 per cent increase in net income over 2010 and year- on- year growth since acquisition of over 30 per cent.
Iestyn Roberts, CEO of Freeport, said: “These are exciting times to be running one of Europe’s leading outlet operators. Since Carlyle acquired Freeport, we have successfully undertaken a major turnaround and emerged from the recession in a strong position to maximise the opportunity that we currently see in the European outlet mall sector, which has shown resilience throughout the prolonged economic slowdown that has affected other areas of retail. The new Freeport Retail offer allows us to grow income for other investors using the same expertise that have seen us improve profitability at Freeport’s assets year on year for the last four years, in challenging broader economic conditions.”
Robert Hodges, managing director, Carlyle European Real Estate, added: “The new investment that we have secured for Freeport underpins its strong position in the European outlet mall sector. The firm has made great progress in improving occupancy at all centres and outperforming compared to other retail sectors. We see the creation of Freeport Retail as offering a valuable new service to capitalise on this expertise as we explore further investment opportunities across Europe.”
