Degi completes Iris deal in Romania for EUR 140m

German investor Degi has completed the acquisition of the Iris shopping cente located in Tital, Romania, for EUR140 mln. Broker CBRE Eurisko acted for the buyer. This is the second transaction that Degi, the investment division of the German group Allianz, has completed in the Romanian market recently, following a EUR110 mln acquisition of three office buildings from the British portfolio of Charlemagne Capital in 2007, also under the guidance of Eurisko.

The retail scheme provides around 60,000 m² of space on a 100,000 m² site. It features the first Auchan supermarket outlet in the country with a selling area of more than 16,000 m2, and a commercial centre of about 30,000 m² due to open this summer.

'This acquisition demonstrates the ongoing appeal of the Romanian market amidst the more challenging financial market conditions. Investment funds are turning to rapidly growing economies such as Romania as an attractive investment option,' said Alexandra Dimofte, head of Capital Markets, CBRE Eurisko. 'The Romanian investment market saw EUR903 mln worth of transactions in the first half of this year, almost equal to the EUR999 mln transacted in the same period in 2007, which was widely considered a record period in the European investment market.' CB Richard Ellis acquired Eurisko Consulting in February 2008.