Salans advised ING RED on Budapest sale

International law firm Salans advised ING Real Estate Development on the sale of a prime retail property in Budapest city centre last month.

Redevco announced it had acquired the three-floor shopping centre in Vörösmarty square in October for EUR 44 mln. The premises consist of retail units and 150 parking spaces. The retail units are fully let to international tenants, including Zara, H&M, New Yorker, Pull & Bear, and Café de Paris - all based on 10-year leases.

'This is one of the few major transactions of its kind since the global economic crisis began - but a sure sign that the market in Hungary is well on the way to recovery,' noted Judit Kovári, co-managing partner of Salans' Budapest office and head of the office's real estate practice group.

The sale of the three-year-old shopping centre to Dutch-based real estate management company Redevco marks the second time in the last two years that ING has turned to Salans’ Global Real Estate Group in Hungary.

In 2009, Salans advised ING on its sale of a 50% share in Budapest's Allee Shopping Centre to Allianz Real Estate Germany for approximately EUR 100 mln, a transaction that was successfully closed in March 2010.

And in November this year, Salans said it advised UniCredit Bank Austria on the loan restructuring for Vivaldi Plaza in one of the largest single asset real estate loan restructurings in Russia.

Vivaldi Plaza, consisting of four newly constructed Class A premium office buildings with a total area of approximately 100,000 m² and a hotel, is located in Moscow's central business district, close to the Paveletskaya metro station. Vivaldi Plaza is in the process of being leased out.