HB Reavis Group announces the sale of Aupark Zilina, one of Slovakia’s best performing shopping centers, to New Europe Property Investments Plc. (NEPI), a Johannesburg, London and Bucharest Stock Exchanges listed real estate fund for a net consideration of €87.5 million (excluding Latent Capital Gains Tax). This landmark transaction reflects the premium quality of the asset and the strong pedigree of the Aupark brand.
Aupark Zilina is a modern shopping center built in 2010, following the successful concept of Aupark shopping center created by HB Reavis and based on the straight-forward design appreciated by shoppers as well as retailers. With approximately twenty five thousand square meters of leasable space, Aupark offers the most complete, fashion-based shopping experience in the region of Zilina with anchor retailers such as Billa, H&M, C&A, New Yorker or Takko. Situated in Slovakia’s 4th largest city with catchment area of ca. 0.4 million people, Aupark has established itself as the winning scheme in the region of Zilina. It benefits from its strategic location within the city center pedestrian zone while at the same time it enjoys direct connection to the inner-city ring-road and other key traffic arteries with excellent road and public transport connections.
Marian Herman, Head of Investment Management and Divestments at HB Reavis commented: “We are extremely pleased to announce the sale of Aupark Zilina to NEPI who came up as highly suitable future owner of this asset. This transaction further underlines the long-term attractiveness of our projects to renowned international institutional investors and demonstrates an increasing appetite for Slovak commercial real estate amongst international investors”.
“Disposal of Aupark Zilina, our second transaction completed in 2013 highlights the success of our business model. Furthermore, the sale proceeds will further strengthen our balance sheet and support our development activities not only in Slovakia, but also in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and other countries”, said Jiří Hrbáček, HB Reavis Group CFO.
HB Reavis Group has been advised by Cushman & Wakefield and Allen & Overy on this transaction.
Source: HB Reavis Group
