About Selectirente

A specialised real estate company

Created in 1997 on the initiative of SOFIDY and other real estate professionals, SELECTIRENTE was listed in October 2006 and adopted the French REIT or SIIC regime on 1 January 2007.

On 3 February 2021, the Ordinary and Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting approved the conversion of SELECTIRENTE’s legal form from a French limited company (société anonyme) into a partnership limited by shares (société en commandite par actions), a major step in the Company’s continued development.

SELECTIRENTE is therefore administered by a manager, SELECTIRENTE Gestion SAS, which has its own managerial department enabling it to pursue the development of SELECTIRENTE both in France and internationally. SELECTIRENTE Gestion has set up an agreement for the provision of advice and support with SOFIDY (a company which forms part of the real estate activities of the Tikehau Capital group), enabling it to draw on SOFIDY’s expertise and capabilities in asset management, property management and the execution of investment, arbitration and financing programmes.

SELECTIRENTE is positioned as one of the few property companies specialised in convenience stores and local retail businesses.

With a property portfolio of  €575 million, more than 60% of which is located in the inner-city area of Paris, the Company’s strategy is aimed at enhancing and developing its portfolio of commercial city centre premises in the most dynamic French and European cities.

Global Strategy

Global strategy

The company’s strategic objective is to enhance and develop its portfolio of commercial property in city centres and peripheral areas. This strategy is based on an active policy of maintenance and enhancement of its property portfolio, dynamic lease management, and the ability to identify and carry out coherent investment projects. For this purpose, SELECTIRENTE relies on the expertise and capabilities of its manager, SELECTIRENTE Gestion, as well as those of SOFIDY, with which SELECTIRENTE Gestion has set up an agreement for the provision of advice and support in the field of commercial property. SELECTIRENTE will also draw on SOFIDY’s ability to source commercial assets corresponding to its investment criteria.

In a fast-changing retail market, the Company has moved its model towards a two-pronged growth strategy. The primary avenue of growth will continue to focus mainly on city-centre retail, Sélectirente’s legacy expertise. This will be supplemented by a second strategy, more opportunistic and value-creating, focusing on the phenomenon of metropolisation.

Primary focus on inner-city retail

The Company confirms a main investment focus based on its legacy expertise in traditional street-level retail.

The current portfolio, which is set to grow further, offers the Company’s shareholders recurring and secure returns over the long term and provides a solid basis for diversification. The Company is confident in the robustness of its assets and in the strength of the traditional city-centre retail sector in the major metropolitan areas, which it sees as resilient in a changing market environment.

Europe’s major cities, with their historical, cultural and artistic centres, have a natural attractiveness and still have significant tourism potential, further fuelled by strong structural trends that are favourable to brick-and-mortar retail and offer resistance to dematerialisation: metropolisation, population ageing, the shift from private car use, the revival of the convenience format (food stores, body care, personal services) and the need for new venues for hospitality and conviviality (hotels, bars, cafés, restaurants).

By way of illustration, between 2020 and 2023, Paris, the Company’s main target market, experienced more than 189 bar and restaurant openings, more than 310 openings of specialised food stores and close to 283 boutiques specialising in body care. This trend, which the Company has been analysing for several years, further underpins this strategic development focus (source: APUR 2023 study).

Against this backdrop, the Company will be able to continue focusing on premium addresses, which, in addition to being traditional points of sale, are becoming more of a showcase for brands, providing an exclusive customer experience. The Company will also be able to seize the opportunities that will arise from market developments in keeping with its DNA, by investing in major French and European cities.

A second, more opportunistic growth avenue

The Company intends to develop a second, complementary strategy, more opportunistic and value-creating, focusing on the phenomenon of metropolisation. This second avenue corresponds to a strong conviction based on the increasing densification of large cities and the attractiveness of a number of cities that are central in their region or tourist destinations.

This phenomenon of metropolisation stems from both demographic and economic vitality trends that redefine the quality of the location, a fundamental criterion of Sélectirente’s investment approach.

Compliance with this strict criterion of location brings to the fore several diversification opportunities for the Company:

  • Commercial mix: in addition to traditional street-level stores in city centres, the Company will be able to position itself more on other types of urban retail outlets (shopping malls or shopping centres);
  • Complex situations: the Company will be able to position itself on opportunities offering potential for value creation with assets to be reworked via restructuring, takeovers of business goodwill or co-ownership issues to be resolved;
  • Sectoral mix: in addition to street-level stores, the Company will be able to position itself on entire buildings comprising mixed hotel, office and residential spaces with a view to creating value in the medium term by selling, where applicable, the non-commercial portion of the acquired buildings;
  • The Company will be able to position itself upstream in property development operations, e.g. the development of new districts or the repositioning of railway stations; and
  • The Company will be able to harness the development of small urban logistics, driven by the boom in pick-up and pedestrian drive concepts and the growth in e-commerce, as well as small peri-urban logistics (last mile logistics).