In an agreement closed on 8th of February 2012 the BPT Secura real estate investment fund, managed by BPT Asset Management, has sold the retail center known as Merimetsa Selver, located in Tallinn, to its main long-term tenant Selver.
Through a buy-back transaction, the Estonian retail chain, Kaubamaja Group, has acquired the local retail center otherwise known as the Merimetsa Selver located on Paldiski Road in Tallinn, Estonia. The property consists of a 5,131 m² neighborhood retail center where Selver is also the anchor tenant along with some additional smaller retailers.
Although the transaction price is not disclosed, the sale realizes a significant capital gain of approx 43% to the investors in BPT Secura on the original acquisition price. The property was acquired by BPT Secura in 2004 from the Kaubamaja Group and has since then been operating as a solid neighborhood supermarket concept.
This is the second exit performed by one of the BPT funds in recent months. In October 2011, BPT Optima sold another similar neighborhood retail center located in Riga, Latvia.
"The Merimetsa Selver has been a long-cherished asset in the BPT Secura portfolio, and it is also a classic example of the kind of strong submarket retail concepts and locations in which BPT has a long track record of investing. The sale documents the strength of the original investment case and as well the exit opportunities in the current market environment," says BPT Secura Fund Manager, Algirdas Vaitiekunas.
The Merimetsa Selver is a strong neighborhood retail sublocation in Tallinn with many daily shoppers stopping by on their way to or from work. The superb location was a main argument for Selver to secure the building once again under direct ownership.
This investment transaction comes as one of the first transactions in the Estonian capital this year. 2011 was an active year with several, even very large, transactions in the city and the interest from both local and international investors is visible.
"While the Baltic markets may not be very large on an international scale, the level of market activity we've seen in the past 1-2 years shows that the markets are capable of performing despite their size and can deliver attractive entry as well as exit opportunities for investors," says Head of Group Asset Management, Indrek Hääl.
Source: BPT
