CBRE Global Investors has sold a portfolio of 11 retail assets located in Central and Eastern Europe for 鈧�650 mln.
The 265,000 m2 portfolio of mainly shopping centre properties was acquired by CPI Property Group, an investment and development company majority owned by Czech billionaire Radovan Vitek.
The portfolio was drawn from CBRE GI's Property Fund Central Europe (PFCE) and Property Fund Central Eastern Europe (PFCEE).
The assets are: -
- Olympia Plzen Shopping Centre anbd Retail Park, and Nisa Liberec Shopping Centre in the Czech Republic
- Ogrody Shopping Centre in Poland (pictured)
- Polus Shopping Centre and Campona Shopping Centre in Hungary
- Felicia Shopping Centre in Romania
- Multifunctional complex Zlat媒 Andel in Prague
- Andr谩ssy Complex in Budapest
- Two Interspar stores in Hungary
CBRE GI said the portfolio was put up for sale after completion of asset management strategies for the individual properties.
'The portfolio attracted a lot of interest as a result of its CEE-wide composition and dominant retail exposure,' said Roland Bebcak, CBRE GI's head of CEE divestments. 'It illustrates that sizeable investments particularly in Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary are firmly back on investors' agendas.'
Robert Snincak, fund manager at CBRE Global Investors, added: 'We have had a very busy twelve months in the CEE region with nearly 鈧�600 mln of acquisitions, as well as this major disposal.'
CBRE Global Investors were advised on the sale by Clifford Chance, Cushman & Wakefield and Arcadis. The buyer was advised by CBRE (commercial), Dentons (legal), Sentient (technical) and KPMG (financial and tax).
CPI Property Group
CPI Property Group contributed 鈧�210 mln from its own resources and secured several loans totalling 鈧�440 mln, for the deal.
In the Czech Republic, financing was provided by a bank syndicate composed of Helaba and CSOB; in Poland, Helaba was the sole financier; UniCredit Bank, Raiffeisenbank and Sberbank provided financing in Hungary; and HypoNoe Bank lent on the Romanian asset. CSOB covered the whole transaction as the escrow agent.
Martin Nemecek, CEO of CPI Property Group, said: 'This transaction clearly demonstrates that CPI Property Group now belongs to the premier league of European real estate investors. In the current competitive market, we managed to win the bidding process, agree financing with major banks and drive the acquisition process with the best in class advisors all within a six month period'.
The deal lifts the number of shopping centres in CPI's portfolio to 20.
Evan Lazar, global co-head of Dentons Real Estate, commented: 'Due to its size and complexity, this was a landmark transaction for real estate in CEE. CPI Property Group鈥檚 acquisitions and financing team alongside Denton鈥檚 team of more than 30 real estate lawyers drove this extremely complex and multi-jurisdictional deal to its successful completion on time as planned in a very well organised and professional manner'.
CPI Property Group is registered in Luxembourg and listed in Frankfurt. It manages a diversified real estate portfolio, valued at 鈧�4.2 bn, across Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania.
The group was formed in September 2014 when Vitek merged his development business, GSG, previously known as Orco Germany, with his CPI company.
Vitek owns more than 95% of the combined CPI Property Group, which it turn holds a 97% stake in Orco Property Group.
