Swedish real estate company Eastnine has acquired the 46-storey office tower Warsaw Unit for €280 mln from Ghelamco.
According to the firm, the deal, which is one of the largest office transactions in Europe this year, increases its profit per share from property management by 18%.
Eastnine CEO Kestutis Sasnauskas said: 'I can hardly imagine a better way for us to enter the Warsaw market than by acquiring a top property in the best location that Warsaw Unit represents.
'We are very grateful to Ghelamco, who not only developed this fantastic landmark changing Warsaw’s skyline, but also joined us as a shareholder.
'The acquisition of Warsaw Unit is a very important milestone on our growth journey not only by entering the capital city of Europe’s fastest growing economy, but also significantly boosting our earnings. Following the acquisition, Poland is our largest market standing for more than 50% of our property portfolio.'
Warsaw Unit is a landmark office building located on rondo Daszynskiego in the heart of Warsaw. The property measures 202 metres above ground and comprises 59,800 m2 of leasable area and 400 parking spaces, spread over 46 floors above ground and three below.
Completed by Belgian developer Ghelamco in 2021, the building is certified BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Core v2 Platinum. The property is fully occupied with more than 20 tenants, including the headquarters of Polish insurance company Warta, and offices of Amazon, Stryker, Moderna, CBRE, and Panattoni, the largest logistics real estate developer in Europe.
Annual rents amount to €18 mln, with an average remaining lease term of 5.1 years.
The transaction was made through a deal for Polish company Apollo Invest. The purchase price was based on an underlying property value of €280 mln, with no deduction for deferred tax.
The acquisition was financed with existing cash, a secured five-year green bank loan of €168 mln from German and Vienna-based lenders Helaba and Erste Group in equal parts, and a separately communicated new issue of 8,760,684 new shares in Eastnine at long-term Net Asset Value (NAV) per share to the seller, Warsaw Unit NV, a subsidiary of the Ghelamco Group.
_x0002_Jaroslaw Zagórski, managing director, Ghelamco Poland, added: 'Warsaw UNIT sets the highest standards in the Polish and European office market.
'It is an office icon of the capital, which in terms of the quality of the working environment and sustainable solutions not only matches the best Western European developments, but in many respects surpasses them.
'We are very pleased that this was appreciated by our partners at Eastnine, for whom these aspects are very important when building an office portfolio.'
As a result of the acquisition, Eastnine’s profit from property management per share increases by 18% to €0.32, while long-term NAV per share is unchanged at €4.68. The loan-to-value ratio rises to 50%, including a €10 mln unsecured three-year loan from Estonian LHV Pension funds that Eastnine has raised.
