Atrium buys Promenada mall in Warsaw for EUR 170m

Central and Eastern European retail specialist Atrium European Real Estate has signed a preliminary agreement to buy the Promenada shopping centre in Warsaw, Poland from Aim-listed investor Carpathian. The transaction volume amounts to EUR 169.5 mln, plus EUR 1.5 mln to be paid to Carpathian upon the successful recovery of value added tax. Atrium will finance the acquisition through a mixture of equity and debt.

Promenada, the number four shopping centre in Poland's capital, is a prime retail property based in the Praga Poludnie district and offering nearly 42,000 m² of retail space and 12,000 m² of office accommodation. The centre, with an occupancy level of 94%, is anchored by a 4,000 m² Alma supermarket and a 6,600 m² Cinema-City.

Atrium said it intends to increase the value of the asset with a number of initiatives. These include generating cost savings through the management of the centre, increasing income by applying market rents at lease expiries, as well as boosting the development potential of the asset.

The acquisition, due to be completed in Q1, increases Atrium's exposure to the tier one Warsaw market and brings the company's total number of income-producing assets in Poland to 19. In the Polish capital, Atrium also owns the Reduta and Targowek shopping centres.

'Today's acquisition is an important one for Atrium,' said Rachel Lavine, CEO of Atrium European Real Estate. 'It follows a period where we have worked hard to stabilise Atrium and marks the start of the next phase in our strategy for the company by building on the solid platform we have created .'

The property was acquired by Carpathian in two parts in 2006 and 2009 for EUR 144.5 mln, including a EUR 104.3 mln loan from Deutsche Pfandbriefbank.

JLL advised the seller, C&W acted for the buyer.