Union Investment Real Estate has acquired the recently delivered Maraton office property in the Polish city of Poznan, from developer Skanska, for €62 mln.
This is the second transaction between Skanska's Commercial Development Europe business and the German fund manager in a regional market in Poland.
The first transaction, in December 2014, involved Union Investment buying Skanska's Dominikanski office complex in Wroclaw for €117 mln.
'This transaction between experienced international players in Poznan shows the growing maturity and liquidity of Poland's regional markets. After successful acquisition of Skanska’s Dominikanski office complex in Wroclaw in 2015, Union Investment has again selected one of our top-class office products. This decision proves the trust and good working relationship that has been established between our two companies,' said Adrian Karczewicz, head of divestments CEE at Skanska Commercial Development Europe.
LEED Gold certified
Located in Poznan's central business district, Maraton was delivered in December 2016 and comprises a leasable area of over 26,000 m2 across two below ground level and six above. The property has a flexible layout and is on the way to LEED Gold certification. The tenants, mainly from the business services sector, include Rockwool, Sii, APS, Bridgestone, Century Link, Duni European Finance Function, Rehau Business Services and Naspers with OLX.
One of the aims of the transaction for Union Investment was to promote the broad diversification of its portfolio in Poland. 'Poznan is our tenth investment location in the country,' said Martin Schellein, head of investment management Europe at Union Investment Real Estate. 'The Poznan office market has excellent growth prospects, so we are delighted to hold such a high-quality property in a central location.'
Following the acquisition, Union Investment holds 16 properties in Poland across the office, retail and hotel sectors, with a total value of some €1.6 bn.
Regional power
Maraton is Skanska's second office project in Poznan following Malta House, which was acquired by a joint venture of Reino Partners and Bluehouse Capital Advisors for €38 mln in August 2015.
Poznan – the capital of the Wielkopolska region – is among the biggest and fastest-developing cities in Poland. It is one of the country's leading regional office and investment markets, as well as a growing hub for the Business Process Outsourcing/Shared Services (BPO/SS) sector.
The city has one of the lowest unemployment rates and, after Warsaw, has the second highest GDP in Poland of over €18,000 GDP per capita. Global companies located in Poznan include Volkswagen, Ikea, Enea, Carlsberg, Duni, Nivea, GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever and McKinsey.
During the sales process, Union Investment was advised by Colliers International, and Knight Frank acted as the exclusive agent for Skanska. Legal advisers for the transaction were Hogan Lovells for the purchaser and Dentons for the seller.
