pbb, Helaba and ING Bank provide Rockcastle with €164m loan

The investment facility will be used to refinance the Karolinka, Pogoria and Platan shopping centres. Helaba and ING Bank are acting as joint lead arrangers providing equal portions of the funding, with pbb acting as facility and security agent of the transaction.

'Rockcastle’s ability to partner with banks of this calibre is testament to the quality of our portfolio. This transaction further supports Rockcastle’s strategy of becoming a dominant retail investor in CEE,' said Nick Matulovich, chief financial officer at Rockcastle. 'It has provided Rockcastle with not only the opportunity to further strengthen its strategic relationship with ING but also cultivate new partnerships with pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Helaba. This deal provides a powerful platform from which to approach future financings with market-leading partners.'

The shopping centre portfolio is located in the Silesian region, with each centre anchored by an Auchan hypermarket and leased to numerous international fashion brands. Karolinka Shopping Centre in Opole, with a total lettable area of approx. 70,000 m2, is Silesia's dominant mall.

Pogoria Shopping Centre is a modern urban centre located in Dabrowa Gornicza with a total lettable area of 36,000 m2, while Platan Shopping Centre is centrally located in the town of Zabrze and provides more than 25,000 m2 of lettable space.

'Over the past 2 years, Rockcastle has become one of the most active and important players on Polish RE market. We are proud to have financed Rockcatle’s very first investment in Poland,' said Wlodek Skonieczny, Head of Real Estate Finance Poland at ING Bank.