CA Immo to acquire Europolis for EUR 272m

Vienna-listed CA Immobilien Anlagen is acquiring all the shares in CEE real estate firm Europolis from Austian bank Österreichische Volksbankenb (VBAG). The investment volume is EUR 272 mln.

Through the transaction, CA Immo takes over the Europolis EUR 1.5 bn property portfolio, which is focused on Eastern and South East Europe. The portfolio mainly comprises income producing assets in the 'core' CEE markets of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, where over 70 % of the property assets reside. Europolis was established by VBAG in 1990 and is based in the Austrian capital

The acquisition will increase CA Immo's property assets from around EUR 3.6 bn to about EUR 5 bn. From a regional perspective, the relative significance of the Eastern and South East Europe segment in the overall portfolio will increase from around 19 % at present to slightly more than 40 %, putting it on a par with the Germany segment.

Bruno Ettenauer, CEO of CA Immo, commented: 'The acquisition of Europolis, with its high-quality portfolio generating strong cash flow, will contribute significantly to a sustainable increase in value and earnings for the CA Immo Group. Eastern Europe is a key market for the CA Immo Group, and we have every confidence that this is a good time in the property cycle to be investing in this region for the long-term. Looking ahead, CA Immo will therefore offer its shareholders an income producing property portfolio that not only harbours appreciably more earnings power thanks to Europolis, but also ideally complements the growth from development activities in Germany.'

The agreement between the bank and the CA Immo specifies half of the purchase price is payable upon closing of the transaction scheduled for January 2011. The other half is to be deferred over a period of 5 years from the closing date.

VBAG, which is providing around 40% of the total financing and is therefore the principal lender to the Europolis Group, has agreed to extend the existing property financing arrangements for a period of five years from the closing date. A subordinated loan of around EUR 75 mln, also with a term of five years, shall also remain in Europolis.