Goldman Sachs has acquired a 6% stake in Russian investment and development firm O1 Properties from the company's subsidiary, Centimila.
Goldman Sachs has acquired a 6% stake in Russian investment and development firm O1 Properties from the company's subsidiary, Centimila.
Goldman Sachs International is buying 5.1 million Class B ordinary shares in O1 Properties for a total of $100 mln (€80 mln), which is in line with the company's net asset value per end-June 2013.
Under the deal, GSI benefits from downside protection through a fully collateralised put option under which O1 Properties' parent group will repurchase the shares from GSI for an amount no less, and in certain circumstances, greater than the initial purchase price.
GSI may sell its shares at any time after 27 months from the purchase date, with O1 Group having a right of first refusal on any such sale. O1 Group has a call option from GSI over the shares at the same price as the put option.
'We welcome Goldman Sachs as a shareholder and look forward to using our expanded capital base to reduce debt and continue our strategy of investing in premium office buildings in Moscow,' commented Dmitry Mints, management board chairman of O1 Properties.
O1 Group is a private holding company that invests in a variety of companies and sectors including real
estate, industry and finance. O1 Properties, the group's real estate arm, owns and manages a $4.5 bn portfolio of 13 business centres in key business districts of Moscow with the total net rentable area of 497,000 m2. The company also has three development projects.
Earlier this year, the company sealed another major investment in Moscow's office market by acquiring the office part of Legenda Tsvetnogo multifunctional complex. 01 Properties acquired over 40,000 m2 of office accommodation and 401 parking spaces at the complex at the corner of Tsvetnoi and Rozhdestvensky boulevards in Moscow.
During late December 2012 and early 2013, O1 Properties also finalised the acquisition of the neighbouring White Square office complex for about $1 bn.