Morgan Stanley Fund Said to Buy Russian Mall for $1 Billion

A Morgan Stanley real estate fund agreed to buy the largest mall in central St. Petersburg, Russia, for about $1.1 billion, according to two people with knowledge of the transaction.

Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund VII will purchase the Galeria center from Meridian Capital CIS Fund, which is run by a buyout firm backed by a group of Kazakh investors including Askar Alshinbaev, the people said. They declined to be identified because the transaction is private and won’t be completed until later this month.