Värde Partners is selling its 52% stake in Greek real estate investment company Trastor REIC to existing shareholder Piraeus Bank for €98m.
The deal – which is subject to approval by the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) – will take Piraeus Bank’s total shareholding to 97%. HFSF is a Greek special purpose vehicle created to help stabilise the Greek banking sector during the Greek government-debt crisis.
Trastor was established in 1999 and was the first company to be granted license to operate as a real estate investment company in Greece in 2003.
The Athens Stock Exchange-listed company owns a portfolio of 59 real estate assets in Greece with a gross asset value of over €315m across the retail, office and logistics sectors, comprising more than 238,000sqm of total leasable area.
Värde Partners initially bought its stake in Trastor REIC in June 2016 from Piraeus Bank as part of the bank’s restructuring plan. Piraeus Bank is the second-largest shareholder with 45% stake whilst the remainder 3% of shares are free floating on the Athens Stock Exchange.
Tony Iannazzo, a senior managing director at Värde Partners, said: “Over the last five years we have significantly increased the size and quality of the company’s real estate portfolio, successfully acquiring more than 40 high quality assets, divesting non-core properties and upgrading existing sites.
“We have had an excellent partnership with Piraeus over these years and believe the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the economic recovery as Greece emerges from the pandemic.”
Christos Megalou, CEO of Piraeus Bank, said: “This transaction will instantly enhance our fee revenue profile and further grow our know-how around the vibrant and rapidly growing real estate sector.
“Trastor is one of the top-performing real estate platforms in South Eastern Europe and will constitute an investment tool for Piraeus Group to capture the extensive upside that the Greek market provides. This is yet another value booster for our shareholders, in our journey to create the best-in-class bank in Greece.”
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