 |
 |
- An exciting premium outlet development between Disneyland Shanghai & Pudong airport -
SINGAPORE, April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Henderson Global Investors (Company Registration No. 199700782N) announces today that the joint venture team, Silk Road Holdings has successfully acquired its latest designer outlet development site, this time in the Pudong New District of Shanghai. Located between Mainland China's first Disneyland and the Pudong International airport, it will offer an unparalleled range of designer brands at discounted prices to the fashion-savvy Shanghainese, and is expected to be a major tourist attraction for the region. Silk Road Holdings intends to open the Shanghai project as well as a Florentia Village in Guangzhou before the end of 2014.
Silk Road Holdings is the joint venture team responsible for the iconic Florentia Village Jingjin Designer Outlet Centre in Wuqing between Beijing and Tianjin, which opened mid-2011 and has since set the benchmark for outlet shopping in China. Silk Road Holdings ventured further south with their second site purchase in Guangzhou last December, which is all part of a strategy to replicate the success of the Florentia Village Designer Outlet concept in multiple gateway cities across China over the next few years.
"Florentia Village Shanghai" - will offer c.54,000 sqm of Designer Outlet shopping, and boast over 200 premium Italian, international and Chinese brands. The outdoor pedestrian retail scheme will extend over one and two storeys and across several distinct shopping environments. Florentia Village Shanghai will blend classical Italian architecture of the Florentine and Venetian style, with an unmatched roster of original luxury brands to create a designer experience par excellence, whilst offering permanently discounted prices all year round. Development work is expected to commence in second half of 2013 in time for completion by late 2014. Florentia Village Shanghai promises a truly international experience with brands like Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta, and will be a major addition to the designer shopping landscape in Shanghai.
Silk Road Holdings shareholders include the Italian Fingen Group of the Fratini Family, the Luxemburg based China Outlet Mall controlled by Jacopo Mazzei, Gaw Capital Partners from Hong Kong, the Sino-US Waitex affiliate as well as a major US institutional investor. Silk Road is advised by RDM Asia (the real estate development company of the Fingen Group in Asia) as operating and development partner alongside Henderson Global Investors as investment advisor. Together the team brings an unprecedented degree of international outlet expertise, luxury retail network, development capability and local market knowledge which has established a new benchmark for the China luxury outlet sector in terms of design, brand representation and consumer experience.
Commenting on the latest site acquisition, Jacopo Mazzei, CEO of RDM Asia says: "The acquisition of the site in Pudong is fantastic news that allows the opening in 2014 of an outstanding Florentia Village in Shanghai to serve millions of customers with the top International and Chinese brands. This is a fundamental milestone to establish Florentia Village as the leading brand in the Luxury Outlet Mall business in China."
Howard Li, CEO of Waitex Group of Companies adds: "Florentia Village is a wonderful destination for millions of Chinese consumers and tourists for shopping, leisure, entertainment and fine dining. It tremendously contributes to domestic spending and economic growth. We deeply appreciate the government's continuous support for this successful project. This is the perfect example that China is one of the best places for foreign investment and business opportunities in the world."
Chris Reilly, Director of Henderson Property Asia, adds: "Shanghai presents a golden opportunity with luxury brands already expressing great interest in the scheme. Success in Shanghai will be driven by the high levels of customer affluence and greater brand awareness coupled with the attractions of the FV scheme in this great location."
Notes to Editors
About Henderson Property
Henderson Global Investors is an independent FTSE 250 company with US$106.7 billion in assets under management worldwide (as at 31 December 2012). Henderson has been present in the Asia-Pacific region for over 15 years, headquartered in Singapore and represented in Hong Kong, Sydney, New Delhi, Tokyo and Beijing. Henderson has a full spectrum of property assets under management in the region including direct, indirect and property securities. Retail property is recognised as a core strength for Henderson, and represents over 50% of the direct property assets under management.
Henderson has significant interests in the outlet mall sector and currently manages the established, market leading European Outlet Mall Fund and UK Outlet Mall Fund in partnership with McArthurGlen. On behalf of its clients Henderson currently holds 13 outlet malls across 8 countries and has a portfolio value of over $2 billion.
About Fingen Group
The Fingen Group was founded in 1979 and focuses its business in three areas: fashion, retail and real estate development. The real estate development business includes a portfolio of mainly retail and residential/hospitality assets valued at circa US$1.8 billion. It currently manages more than 20 developments with a total surface area of more than 600,000 sq m. In fashion and retail, Fingen Group has held licences and developed some major global brands including Calvin Klein, Guess and Jean Paul Gaultier. They have strong relationships with many major Italian brands that underpin their outlet business.
RDM Fingen began in Italy, where they have a strong record of successful real estate development projects. The Designer Outlets are strategically located throughout Italy, in locations carefully selected to maximize revenues. Fingen RDM developed, amongst others, Serravalle - the largest outlet mall in Europe. Fingen RDM is the developer for the next generation of designer outlet malls in China. As the first of its kind, Fingen RDM developed a designer outlet mall close to Beijing, the Florentia Village with relationships with brands including Prada, Ferragamo, Armani, Burberry, Fendi, Tods, Bulgari, Zegna, Celine and Dunhill.
Fingen Group has been present in China since 1986 and has today built an experienced outlet operation there supported by the Italian Management team. In China, the Head of Operations has over 15 years experience in outlets. The Centre Manager of the Florentia Village, Beijing has managed outlets for the last seven years including two in China.
http://www.fingen.it/en/business/real-estate/
About the partnership
Henderson Global Investors (HGI) and Fingen RDM (the real estate service company of Fingen Group) started working together in 2004 and have since formed a close and successful relationship. HGI invests in some of Europe's largest luxury designer outlet mall schemes through its European Outlet Mall Fund and the UK Outlet Mall Fund in partnership with McArthurGlen. The chart below details the centres held in Henderson Fund ownership:
Fingen Group have developed 5 Luxury Italian Outlet Centres including Serravalle Scrivia (Alessandria), Castel Romano (Roma), Barberino di Mugello (Florence), Noventa di Piave (Venice) and the Marcianise (Caserta). The Fingen Group business model combines real estate development, fashion and retail. The company is present in Europe and Asia with over 2,000 staff.
About Florentia Village
Florentia Village - Jingjin Designer Outlets is China's first authentic Italian outlet village and promises Chinese consumers the ultimate shopping experience with 165 of the most famous Italian luxury brands and international and Chinese fashion premium brands offering irresistible discount prices all year around. Opened since June 2011, Florentia Village delivers an uncompromising shopping experience for Chinese consumers with beautiful Italian style architecture, authentic Italian and international cuisine, and entertaining public events - bringing the fashion, culture and spirit of Florence Italy without ever leaving Beijing.
With a total site area of 60,000 square meters, and a gross leasing area of 42,000 square meters, Florentia Village boasts collections from finest Italian luxury and premium fashion brands around the world. Consumers can find the diverse variety of products at outlet value laid across four distinctive shopping zones: luxury, international premium, sports and outdoor, and leisure.
Florentia Village - Jingjin Designer Outlets is characterized by the authentic Italian style with fabulous architecture, including a canal running through the entire village with gondolas, elegant arena and bridges, beautiful fountains, romantic squares and porticoes, not to mention a variety of gourmet from all over the world and outdoor cafes. Florentia Village - Jingjin Designer Outlets provide Chinese shoppers the kind of shopping experience unavailable to them before, and it's a perfect destination for a shopping day-trip for families, friends and lovers.
Florentia Village - Jingjin Designer Outlets is located in Wuqing, a fast-growing town between Beijing and Tianjin. The location is conveniently connected to the adjacent metropolitans by highways and national roads, as well as the Jingjin high-speed railway. There are 22 daily trains stopping at Wuqing and the train station is only 100 meters from the center's main entrance.
Important Information
Henderson Global Investors (Singapore) Limited and its affiliates are referred to herein as Henderson Global Investors. This document has been produced based on Henderson Global Investors' research and analysis and represents our house view. All the information contained in the document is intended for information, illustration or discussion purposes only and should not be relied on for any investment decisions or regarded as a substitute for the exercise of your own judgement. The information contained in the document has not been reviewed or endorsed by the MAS.
The contents of this document are prepared without consideration to the specific investment objective, financial situation and particular needs of any specific person. It does not constitute an advertisement and should not constitute or form part of any offer or solicitation to issue, sell, subscribe or purchase any investment in any jurisdiction and do not purport to represent or warrant the outcome of any investment strategy, program or product. Any information and views provided herein is subject to change without further notice. None of the material, nor its content, nor any copy of it, maybe altered in any way, transmitted to, copied or distributed to any other party, without prior express written permission of Henderson Global Investors. The information contained herein is obtained and / or compiled from sources believed to be reliable and current and Henderson Global Investors do not warrant, guarantee or represent, either expressly or impliedly, the accuracy, validity or completeness of such information. Henderson Global Investors or any directors or employees of Henderson Global Investors shall not be liable for any damages arising from any person's reliance on this information and shall not be liable for any errors or omissions (including but not limited to errors or omissions made by third party sources) in this information. Unless otherwise indicated, the source for all data is Henderson Global Investors.
Past performance of any fund, a security, an investment or manager and any opinions, forecasts, assumptions, estimates and valuations made are not necessarily indicative of the future or likely performance of the fund, the security, investment or manager. An investment in collective schemes/funds, and/or other investment products is subject to investment risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested.
