When trade once again enchants investors

At €2.7 billion, retail accounted for 25% of the volume invested in French retail real estate in 2024. And this influence increased in^Q1 2025, when the €1.3 billion deployed in the sector accounted for 40% of total volumes. Although this performance was largely boosted by Ardian 's acquisition of a 60% stake in a portfolio of three "ultra-prime" Parisian assets from Kering - a deal worth €837m - it is part of a trend that has already been palpable for two years: some investors, and particularly very large ones, are starting to take an interest in retail again.

"The 'retail bashing' has been behind us for over a year now", said Thierry Cahierre, COO Real Estate at Redevco, whose group invested €518 million in a UK portfolio of 16 retail parks at the end of last year. "Investors are starting to look at retail again, albeit cautiously, and I'm sure that the market will pick up again fairly quickly, if not very quickly, once the movement is initiated", he added.

The most emblematic transactions are obviously in luxury retail, with investors competing for hundreds of millions of euros for the capital's finest addresses. As far back as 2023, luxury giants LVMH and Kering put their stamp on the high street market, with the former acquiring 101 and 150 Champs-Élysées for around €1.7 bn and the latter 35 avenue Montaigne and 12-14 rue Castiglione for over €1.5 bn. The trend has continued ever since. In addition to the Ardian/Kering deal mentioned above, Hermès acquired 17 rue de Sèvres for €300m, Chanel 42 avenue Montaigne for over €250m and Blackstone the Mandarin Oriental Boutique portfolio for €148m.

But the high street is not the only sub-sector to have attracted investor interest: according to Savills, 31% of retail investment volumes in 2024 were in high streets, 27% in retail parks and 34% in shopping centers.

In the shopping center segment, the flagship transaction was undoubtedly carried out by CDC Investissement Immobilier, which acquired a 15% stake in Westfield Forum des Halles fromUnibail-Rodamco-Westfield on behalf of Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) at the beginning of the year. At a net sale price of €235 million, "in line with the last unallocated value", according to its protagonists. Another memorable deal was the Sofidy/Klépierre tandem's acquisition of the O'Parinor shopping center in the^first half of 2024, at a price of around €200 million and a yield in excess of 9%.

Far from being outdone, peripheral retail also managed to attract a number of large-scale transactions. These include the Metro portfolio, sold by Amundi to AB Sagax in Q3 2024 for over 200 M€, and the sale by Frey of a 66.7% stake in a portfolio of four retail parks to Batipart, a transaction worth 112 M€.