CA Immo issues EUR 135m of bonds, opens first retail centre in Hungary

Austrian property company CA Immo is issuing at least EUR 135 mln in convertible bonds in a bid to boost its finances. The company said that the volume may be increased to EUR 150 mln if bookrunners, Deutsche Bank and UniCredit, exercise a greenshoe option to buy another EUR 15 mln worth of the issue.

CA Immo will use the proceeds 'to fund future development projects and to enhance its financial flexibility in order to pursue investment opportunities in the current market environment'.

The bonds, with a maturity of five years, will have a coupon of 4.125% and a conversion price of EUR 11.58, representing a premium of 27% on the reference price. The bonds have been offered and sold in an accelerated bookbuilding only to institutional investors outside of the US, Canada, Australia and Japan.

CA Immo had initially set a minimum offering size of EUR 100 mln, which could be lifted to EUR 135 mln if there was enough demand from investors.

Furthermore, the company has announced the opening of its Dunacenter retail scheme in Györ, Hungary. The project represents a 50:50 joint venture between CA Immo's 60%-owned vehicle, CA Immo New Europe Property Fund, and a group of Hungarian investors led by Ivan Holler.

The new retail centre with 16,400 m² of leasable space represents the first retail project developed by CA Immo in Hungary, where the company has been active to date exclusively in the office property sector with projects such as Capital Square, Vizivaros Office Center and Bartok Haz, all in Budapest.