Carmila, Catena and Xior join the EPRA Index

Carmila (French retail), Catena (Swedish industrial) and Xior Student Housing (Belgium) were accepted yesterday for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index, following the quarterly index review. The effective date of the inclusion is 18 September 2017.

Dominique Moerenhout, EPRA CEO, said: “This trio of new members highlights the diversity and depth of real estate investment strategies available to investors in Europe and increases the Continental European representation within this benchmark Index. It is particularly pleasing to see the inclusion of another student housing operator in the Index since it sends an important signal that the ‘alternative’ real estate sector is expanding and developing. EPRA looks forward to more niche real estate sectors gaining representation in the future.”

Christian Teunissen, CEO of Xior Student Housing, an EPRA member company since the end of 2016, commented: “This is an important milestone for Xior, which has been realised earlier than expected, and great recognition for the hard work of the entire team. We thank the team and all the stakeholders that have contributed to this achievement.”

Xior is the first specialist student housing REIT from continental Europe to be included in the Developed Europe Index. The company, which listed its shares two years ago, joins its peers from the UK which pioneered the student housing model in Europe.

Carmila continues to grow the EUR 46.9 billion (free float market cap as of 31 August) retail sector of the Developed Europe Index, while Catena is the 13^th Swedish company to join its ranks.

The inclusion of Carmila, Catena and Xior takes the total number of Index constituents to 104. In order to qualify for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index the companies had to pass the EUR 208 million free float market capitalisation and EPRA liquidity criteria as well as passing reporting and EBITDA tests.

The Ground Rules for Index inclusion are publicly available on the EPRA website.