"Mercada has been a good investment for AMF and has contributed to a high and stable return for our pension savers. The sale is part of AMF's ongoing further development of its existing property portfolio, in the form of both divestments and new investments. We see this as active portfolio management, and as a way to generate a stable and competitive return for our savers going forward," says Pernilla Arnrud Melin, Head of Portfolio Manager Real Estate at AMF.
Mercada owns 35 properties with approximately 290,000 sq m of lettable area, which mostly consists of grocery stores with Kesko as a tenant, as well as two large shopping centers.
"AMF was early in investing in unlisted properties and is one of Sweden's largest owners of properties, with a good mix of commercial properties, residential properties and community properties. The property portfolio contributes nicely to the return and diversification of our overall portfolio, which in turn is important for managing different market conditions and economic fluctuations. This is something that leads to our savers receiving the best possible pensions," says Henrik Lundh, Head of Alternative Investments and Real Estate at AMF.
AMF's unlisted property portfolio consists of the sale of the wholly-owned subsidiary AMF Fastigheter, the partly-owned Swedish real estate companies Rikshem, Urban Escape and Delcore Fastigheter, and the Finnish real estate company Antilooppi.
The transaction was completed on 31 January 2025. Advium Corporate Finance and Hannes Snellman Attorneys have advised AMF in the transaction.