Real estate transactions registered EUR 800 million last year, below the level of 2014

A novelty element in 2015 was the emergence on the market of new investors, respectively CTP Invest, P3, GLL, Logicor and Lonestar, after several years when NEPI and Globalworth have dominated the market.

The volume registered in 2014 represented a record of the latest years, but were influenced by two transactions: the takeover of Real stores by Auchan, with a value of EUR 260-280 million and the consolidation of the Globalworth portfolio by the takeover of the participation owned by the German fund RREEF in several projects, totalling nearly EUR 200 million.

The largest transactions this year include the acquisition of Europolis Park by P3, owned by American investment funds. The transaction, with a value of EUR 120 million, was announced in 2014, but it was completed in the beginning of 2015.

Another significant transaction was the takeover by the German investment fund GLL of the office park Floreasca Park from Portland Trust for EUR 100 million. Nearly EUR 100 million was also the price paid by the French retail network Carrefour for the 85 Billa stores took over from the German company Rewe.

South-Africa’s investment fund NEPI paid EUR 86 million for the retail park Iris Titan, bought from the Scottish fund Aberdeen Asset Management.

The “stars” of the real estate market were by far the industrial segment and the company CTP Invest, which became, in less than a year, the largest logistics and industrial parks owner in Romania.

CTP bought Prologis Logistic Park, Mercury Logistics Park from the American investment fund Heitman, Cefin Logistics Arad from Cefin, Deva Logistics Park and Bucharest West from Portland, transactions with a total value of nearly EUR 130 million.

The total volume of industrial properties transacted in 2015 exceeds EUR 300 million, representing 37 pct. of the total transaction value.

Apart from CTP Invest, which entered the Romanian market in the real estate boom period by the acquisition of several plots in the country, other investors which went “shopping” last year in Romania include Logicor, the division of the American company Blackstone, through the takeover of the industrial parks owned by Immofinanz and the investment fund Lonestar.

The office transactions totalled more than EUR 200 million and the retail transactions, including plots of land with that destination, totalled more than EUR 240 million. (source: profit.ro)