* Irish developer Johnny Ronan has teamed up with Colony NorthStar Inc. to work on a €1 billion mixed-use real estate project in Dublin, involving four office buildings, a hotel, stores and homes. Initial properties are scheduled for completion in 2020.
* Real estate developer Metrovacesa is mulling an IPO on the Spanish stock exchange as it looks to expand its homebuilding business in the country, Property Investor Europe reported, citing the company CEO Jorge Pérez de Leza. Metrovacesa was delisted from the exchange in 2013 by its owners Santander, BBVA and Popular.
The company holds assets worth more than €2.6 billion and a land portfolio of more than 6 million square meters, which could accommodate 40,000 new homes, the report noted.
* Pioneers Holding For Financial Investments Co. (SAE) plans to list 40% of Rooya Real Estate Investment Co.'s shares on the Egyptian bourse within the first six months of 2018. The company acquired a 60% interest in the property developer in March 2015 for approximately 1.23 billion Egyptian pounds.
UK and Ireland
* Great Portland Estates Plc and Ropemaker Properties Ltd., through their Great Ropemaker Partnership joint venture, agreed to sell the 240 Blackfriars Road office and retail property in London to clients of Wolfe Asset Management Ltd. for £266.5 million.
* C C Land Holdings Ltd. partnered with three other Hong Kong-based property companies to acquire a majority stake in the 40 Leadenhall Street office project in the City of London. TH Real Estate will retain a minority stake and manage the project, which will contain about 84,500 square meters of space.
* The Leeds City Council selected Town Centre Securities Plc as its partner for the £20 million development of a site on George Street, Leeds, U.K., that will house approximately 117 aparthotel units and nine ground floor units for commercial uses, upon completion in 2020.
* Tritax Big Box REIT Plc extended the maturity on its roughly £50.9 million loan facility to July 2025 from July 2023. The facility was signed with Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale and is secured on its Ocado distribution warehouse in Erith, London.
* A joint venture between Arlington Real Estate and the Richardson family purchased Carillion's stake in the £150 million Milburngate development in Durham, England, Property Week reported. The duo will take over the delivery of the development, which is currently set to begin its initial construction phase. The deal forms part of Carillion's disposal of its commercial property development portfolio, the report added.
* Planners have approved the development of 1,300 new homes and 230,000 square feet of modern light industry area at the former Nestlé factory site near the Heathrow Airport in the U.K., Construction Enquirer reported. Barratt London will take on the residential component of the Hayes project, while SEGRO Plc will deliver the industrial space, according to the report.
* McLaren Construction is set to kick off the £58 million expansion of the Castle Quay Shopping Centre in Banbury, U.K., in February 2018, Construction Enquirer reported. The expansion will add a hotel, a seven-screen cinema and six restaurants to the asset.
* Kennedy-Wilson Holdings Inc. paid €45 million to acquire the 124-unit Northbank Apartments in Dublin's North Docks from Jarmar Properties Ltd.
Finland and Sweden
* Sponda Plc secured roughly €1.00 billion of loan facilities. The company landed a €600.0 million facility Dec. 15 and, together with certain subsidiaries, signed on for another secured, interest-bearing €400.0 million facility.
* Pandox closed the issuance of 10 million class B shares, priced at 148 Swedish kronor apiece, to raise 1.48 billion kronor to finance its acquisitions.
* Catena AB signed an agreement to acquire a five-property logistics portfolio in the Stockholm region with an underlying value of approximately 1.10 billion kronor from Kilenkrysset subsidiaries.
Switzerland
* Swiss Prime Site AG is buying a 5,170-square-meter site next to the Lancy railway station in Geneva for the construction of a "services-oriented" building with 15 stories. The developer has secured approval to regenerate the Esplanade 4 plot, with general construction permit expected to be secured for the site in 2018 and project completion slated in 2023.
Italy
* Eurocommercial Properties NV agreed to sell four Italian properties under its asset rotation program to Immobiliare Grande Distribuzione SIIQ SpA for €187 million. Eurocommercial will use the proceeds to partially fund its purchase of the Woluwe Shopping Centre in Brussels, for which an agreement will be signed in early 2018.
Immobiliare Grande has proposed a preemptive rights issue of up to €150 million to existing shareholders to help fund transaction.
Belgium
* HNA Tourism Group Co. Ltd. pledged 10,600,000 of its 119,567,553 shares in Rezidor Hotel Group AB to secure a loan. HNA said the pledged shares will be transferred back to the company after it fully repays the loan.
Africa
* Singapore-based The Ascott Ltd.'s global expansion plans are forging ahead, with the company signing management contracts for two properties in the Ghanaian capital of Accra to mark its first foray into Africa.
Other real estate news
* Swiss investor Partners Group AG established a A$500 million fund to target office assets in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The Propertylink Australian Commercial Trust I fund with Australian developer Propertylink made its first acquisition with the A$150 million purchase of the 73 Miller St. building in North Sydney.
The Daily Dose Europe, Real Estate edition, is updated as of 6:30 a.m. London time. Some links require a subscription. Articles and links are correct as of publication time.
Cam Nones contributed to this report.
As of Dec. 15, US$1 was equivalent 17.87 Egyptian pounds and 8.50 Swedish kronor.
