UK investor Resolution Property and German shopping centre specialist ECE have acquired the Poznan City Center mall, part of the regeneration scheme at the main train station in the Polish city of Poznan.
UK investor Resolution Property and German shopping centre specialist ECE have acquired the Poznan City Center mall, part of the regeneration scheme at the main train station in the Polish city of Poznan.
The financial details of the joint acquisition of Poznan City Center were not disclosed. PropertyEU has learned, however, that the price was in the region of €250 mln. German banks Aareal and pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank have provided €190 mln in financing for the deal.
Comprising 58,000 m2 of gross lettable area, Poznan City Center was acquired by Resolution Real Estate Fund IV and ECE Prime European Shopping Centre Fund.
The vendors were Europa Capital, on behalf of Europa Fund III, and its joint-venture partners Trigranit Development Corporation (Trigranit) and PKP (Polish State Railways).
The Trigranit-developed shopping centre opened for trading in October 2013, less than two years after the start of construction. It incorporates a new bus terminal and railway station, creating a central transport hub. The total build area comes to more than 164,000 m2.
Since its opening, the new shopping centre has welcomed nearly 5 million visitors in just over four months, an average of more than 40,000 people per day. The centre's retail and leisure offer encompasses 230 units, with key tenants such as the Inditex brands, Saturn, Sportsdirect, Toys 'R' Us, TK Maxx and H&M.
Trigranit was chosen by PKP to revitalise and renew Poznan's main railway station in 2007, following a competitive tender process with several other real estate development companies. In February 2012, Europa Capital became Trigranit's joint venture partner for this Public Private Partnership project whereby PKP contributed the land and the Europa Capital-TriGranit joint venture contributed the necessary financial capital and expertise. The development was financed by a consortium of banks including Bank Zachodni WBK, Nordea, BRE Bank, Raiffaisen and Hypo Noe.
Europa Capital has been involved in about €1 bn of European real estate transactions over the last 12 months, including significant disposals for Europa Fund III, which was raised in 2007 and 2008 with €731 mln of equity commitments from international investors.
Trigranit is the largest fully integrated regional real estate investment, development, and management company in Central and Eastern Europe. The company has operations in nine countries in CEE, a large portfolio of completed assets and a pipeline of over €4 bn of major mixed-use developments, as well as a number of public-private partnership (PPP) investments.