GTC sells EUR 120m Bucharest office building

Global Trade Centre Real Estate (GTC) has signed the final agreement for the sale of the America House Building in Bucharest to PBW II Real Estate Fund for EUR 120 mln. GTC is the real estate subsidiary of Kardan, the Tel Aviv and Amsterdam-listed investment company. Kardan said it will realise a gain of about EUR 7 mln from the transaction, implying a yield of 5.5%.

America House Building is a class-A office building in the Romanian capital and has 27,000 m² of net rentable space. 'The transaction is setting a new benchmark for the valuation of commercial property in Romania, indicating that strong yield compression is continuing,' Kardan said.

PBW II Real Estate is a fund managed by IXIS AEW Europe (IAE), which in turn is a subsidiary of IXIS Asset Management. In total, IXIS Asset Management Group and North America based AEW Capital Management are responsible for EUR 30 bn of gross assets under management.

Warsaw-listed GTC SA develops real estate projects in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Ukraine. 'The sale of America House fits GTC' s strategy to further diversify its property portfolio both in terms of sector and geographical spread,' Kardan said. GTC's portfolio of projects under development in Romania comprises approximately 500,000 m² of net commercial and residential space. GTC Real Estate , the real estate division of the Kardan, holds a 46.1% stake in GTC SA. Kardan holds both directly and indirectly a 61.3% stake in GTC RE.