EPI Russia 1 acquires St Petersburg business centre

Finnish real estate fund EPI Russia 1 has acquired the Kellerman business centre in St Petersburg. The total value of the investment is expected to amount to some EUR 150mln after the development potential in the property has been realised, Finnish bank Evli said in a statement issued earlier this month.

Evli said the deal marks the third investment made by the fund. The sellers of the property were Scandinavian Manufacturing ApS, Swedfund, East Capital Amber Fund and a number of private investors.

The property is located in central St Petersburg, at 10th Krasnoarmeiskaya str. 22. The existing office building has an area of approximately 20,000 m². An extension of 6,000 m² is currently under construction, to be completed in the late fall of this year. The property also has building potential of additional 40,000 m² of office premises.

'The site is superbly located and boasts highly functional connections to both the airport and the city center via the St. Petersburg metro system. Furthermore, the property attractively combines an optimally steady cash flow and substantial development potential, in accordance with the fund’s investment strategy,' says Petteri Nurminen, managing director of Evli Property Investments.

Established in June 2006, EPI Russia I is Finland's first real estate equity fund investing exclusively in Russia, and one of the few mutual funds in the world that focuses only on the Russian real estate market. The fund's investment strategy is to acquire and develop commercial properties in the St Petersburg and Moscow regions. The fund aims to establish a real estate portfolio of approximately EUR 350 - 400mln. The portfolio manager is Amplion Asset Management Oy.