HB Reavis sells Aupark complex in Slovakia to NEPI for €165m

CEE developer HB Reavis Group has divested its flagship regional shopping centre in Slovakia, Aupark Kosice, together with the adjacent Aupark Office Tower, to New Europe Property Investments (NEPI), for a total sum of €165 mln.

The Aupark complex is located in Kosice, Slovakia’s second-largest city. The €165 mln transaction also sees NEPI acquire the former Malinovsky Barracks in the wider city centre from HB Reavis.

Aupark Shopping Centre comprises 34,000 m2 of leasable space and 1,100 parking spaces, and is almost fully leased. Tenants include H&M, C&A, Mango, New Yorker, Deichmann, Orsay, Datart, and Billa. Since its opening in 2011, Aupark has generated double-digit turnover growth and has a footfall of 11 million visitors a year.

The adjacent Aupark Office Tower comprises 12,700 m2 of leasable space and is let to companies such as IBM, PWC, Holcim, and Eset.

The deal is the second to date between HB Reavis and NEPI, following the latter’s acquisition of Aupark Zilina shopping centre from HB Reavis last year. NEPI is a commercial property company listed on the Johannesburg and London stock exchanges.

'We intend to continue further developing the Aupark brand, and are currently constructing our first Aupark centre outside of Slovakia, in the Czech Republic city of Hradec Kralove,' commented Marian Herman, CFO of Bratislava-based HB Reavis.