CEE shopping centre specialist Atrium European Real Estate has completed the sale of the Atrium Militari shopping centre in Bucharest, Romania to European retail specialist MAS Real Estate.
The deal, with a value of €95 mln, represents a 9% premium to book value on 31 December 2017.
The divestment of the company’s only shopping centre in Romania forms part of Atrium’s strategy of rebalancing its portfolio both geographically, towards Poland and the Czech Republic, Central Europe’s strongest economies, and by asset class towards larger scale, well-established shopping centres in strong urban locations which dominate their catchment areas.
The sale follows shortly after the company’s recent announcement that it had sold 19 properties, which represented substantially all of its assets in Hungary and completed its portfolio repositioning in the Czech Republic with the sale of its stake in a shopping centre in Brno.
Liad Barzilai, Chief Executive Officer of Atrium Group, commented: 'This disposal sees Atrium cease its operational activities in Romania and further increase its portfolio weighting towards Poland and the Czech Republic, where we have significant critical mass and are better placed to benefit from leveraging efficiencies, sustainable growing cash flows and economies of scale.'
