UK-based Hystead, a joint venture between South Africa's Hyprop Investments and PDI Investment Holdings, has purchased a shopping centre in Bulgaria for €156 mln.
The vendor was in a deal with Bulgarian company AP Retail.
Hystead purchased the shares in AP Retail I through its subsidiary Balkan Retail to take full control of The Mall, Sofia, a 52,000 m2 shopping centre with nearly 200 tenants.
'The acquisition of The Mall is a continuation of our efforts to own a high-quality portfolio of shopping centres in Southeast Europe (SEE),' commented Pieter Prinsloo, CEO of Hyprop.
Currently 99.7% let, The Mall's tenants include the Inditex Group, Peek & Cloppenburg, H&M, Reserved, LC Waikiki, Arena Cinemas, Cortefiel Group, Starbucks, Intersport, Technopolis, New Yorker, CCC, Mango and Deichmann.
The deal represents Hystead's fourth investment in the region, after it previously acquired the Delta City shopping centres in Podgorica and Belgrade alongside Skopje City Mall in Macedonia at the end of 2016.
JLL’s South Eastern Europe Capital Markets team based in Belgrade advised Hystead.
'Another retail acquisition of this volume represents a continuation of the strategy of the largest South African REITs to invest in dominant retail opportunities across the SEE region and CEE in general,' commented Uros Grujic, head of capital markets for South East Europe, JLL. 'The attractiveness of the opportunities is additionally fuelled by improvements in the financial markets, with Bulgaria in particular witnessing a softening on debt requirements for investors.'
'With this in mind we expect further interest from institutional investors acquiring in the region, especially in acquiring income-producing assets across the retail sector, but also spreading onto office sector, with two large office deals expected to close by year-end,' he added.
'With the fourth shopping centre being transacted in Bulgaria in 2017, the country is certainly back on the investor map following a period of recovery over the past five years,' concluded Andrew Peirson, managing director, South East Europe, JLL.
