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Europa Capital, the general partner of Europa Fund II, and developer ConvergenCE have announced that their joint venture for the development of Solivaria shopping centre located in Presov, Slovakia has agreed a EUR 38.8 mln loan facility with UniCredit Bank's Slovak subsidiary in Bratislava.

Solivaria is to comprise 25,000 m² of shopping, restaurant and leisure space on two main trading levels situated at the junction of principal shopping streets in Presov, Slovakia’s third largest city. The immediate location is already established for retail use with Tesco, Baumax and Nay opposite and the main bus and railway stations are within easy walking distance.

Alan Vincent, managing director of ConvergenCE, commented: 'Having secured building permits last year, this marks completion of another important milestone for the project, secured in a challenging environment for financing. We anticipate that retailers will share our confidence now in making Solivaria the leading retail development in Presov. Moreover, we look forward to working again with the very professional UniCredit Bank, who financed ConvergenCE's highly successful Park One office building in Bratislava.'

CB Richard Ellis (Bratislava and Vienna) are the letting agents for the project.

Europa Capital is an independent real estate fund management group operating from offices across Europe. Since 1995, Europa Capital’s principals have collectively raised six real estate funds and committed to over 60 transactions totalling in excess of EUR 5 bn across 17 European countries.

ConvergenCE is a development, project management and asset management company active in Hungary and Slovakia. It has been the exclusive local partner of Europa Capital in these markets since 2004.