Helaba completes financing for Polonia II fund

German bank Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thuringen announced on Thursday that it has put together a EUR 300 mln cross-border acquisition and term-loan facility for the Polonia II real estate fund. The eight-year facility covers investments in major CEE markets, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Helaba acted as arranger and underwriter of the facility via the Northern and Central Europe unit of its International Real Estate Finance division.

AIB, the largest financial services group in Ireland, established the Polonia II fund to enable investors to tap into the growing property markets in Poland and other CEE countries. Polonia I, the first Polish real estate investment opportunity run by AIB Capital Markets, has built up a diversified portfolio of Polish and Hungarian properties with an estimated portfolio of EUR 469 mln.

AIB Capital Markets announced the closure of the fundraising stage for Polonia Property Fund II in October having exceeded its equity target. AIBCM and its wholly-owned Polish subsidiary, AIBPPM, successfully raised EUR 200 mln in equity, which they said would be leveraged to provide a fund total of around EUR 800 mln.