Dutch-based Multi on course to become investing developer of European malls

Netherlands-based Multi Corporation is well on course to transform from a merchant to an investing developer of European shopping centres, retaining stakes in malls it builds such as the newly-opened Centrum Galerie in east Germany's Dresden. CEO Glenn Aaronson told PIE that Multi, de-listed and taken private three years ago wýth the help of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds, is making considerable strides. "Many original centres were pre-sold .. but since that point we've moved away from being a merchant developer to being an investing developer," he says. "Now, as much as 50% to 60% of that which goes into the pipeline is for our own box." Grounds for the transition are Multi's forecasts of a structural change in the European retail mall segment.