Investor Nepi Rockcastle has acquired Magnolia Park shopping centre in Poland from Germany's Union Investment for €373 mln in an off-market transaction.
The deal marks the biggest single asset shopping centre transaction by value in Central and Eastern European markets in recent years.
The asset has been held by Union Investment in the UniImmo: Europa portfolio since 2017.
Rüdiger Dany, Nepi Rockcastle CEO, said: 'Nepi Rockcastle has just acquired one of the top retail assets in Poland. Magnolia Park is a dominant shopping centre in Wroclaw the country’s third largest city and one of its richest.
'The acquisition will significantly strengthen the Group’s portfolio, consolidating its position as the premier retail real estate owner in CEE.'
The 100,000 m2 Magnolia Park enjoys a strategic location in Wroclaw, with excellent visibility and access both by car and public transport. The shopping centre has an immediate catchment area of over 360,000 people within 15 minutes’ drive and a regional catchment of almost 1.4 million consumers within one hour’s travelling.
Henri Eisenkopf, director transactions shopping places at Union Investment said 'Magnolia Park is one of the Top 10 shopping centres in Poland and it continues to perform well in terms of footfall and sales figures.
'It is currently 99 per cent let. We have therefore taken the current opportunity to sell the shopping centre and to strategically reduce our exposure in Poland.'
Roman Müller, head of investment management retail at Union Investment, added: 'In this off-market transaction, we benefited from our strong network and showed that the right product can meet the expectations of buyers and sellers even in a challenging market environment.'
Union Investment was advised commercially by JLL, legally by CMS and on tax aspects by Thedy & Partners. NEPI Rockcastle was assisted by Linklaters as buy-side legal advisor, PwC on tax and financial aspects and PM Services as technical advisor.
Cushman & Wakefield acted as an adviser to Nepi Rockcastle.
