IMMOEAST AG, the listed real estate company in Central and Eastern Europe, has fully taken over IMAK CEE, which operates in Hungary and Poland. The company was established in 2004 as a joint venture between IMMOEAST and the Austrian real estate development group Akron; IMMOEAST previously held 56.6% of the stakes.
IMAK has an extraordinarily attractive office and logistics portfolio comprising altogether eleven properties with lettable space totalling 165,000 m². Hungary accounts for 50.5 percent of this, Poland for 49.5%. All properties are let in full, the tenants are largely renowned international companies. Among the most prominent names are the pharmaceutical giants Schering, Bayer and Novartis, the automotive group General Motors and the multinational brewery Carlsberg.
The logistics stake in the IMAK-CEE portfolio is 60%. Thus, an important step toward the planned increase in the logistics share of IMMOEASTs entire portfolio has been taken. Worth particular mention is the Euro-BusinessPark in Budapest with the subdivisions Pharmapark, Camel Park and Shark Park, which experts consider the most successful logistics property in the greater region of Budapest and which was 100% let upon completion of each building phase.
The portfolio, which has been transferred in its entirety to the IMMOEAST portfolio, has a fair market value of €280 million. It therefore exceeds IMMOEASTs biggest single investments to date, the Polus City Center in Bratislava and Silesia City Center in Katowice, and is comparable to the acquisition of the discount market chain Stop Shop in Hungary.
For IMMOEAST Chairman Karl Petrikovics, the takeover is another important step toward expanding the companys dominance on the key markets of the EUs Central European countries: The IMAK-CEE portfolio is impressive because of its supreme quality and sound returns and fits perfectly into our strategy of growth and diversification. Particularly in Warsaw we have taken an important step in the development of our market position.
Based on our recently closed rights issue of €2,75 billion, IMMOEAST is planning an investment programme of altogether €5 billion in the current 2006/07 business year. The focal point of the acquisitions will be in countries which have already joined the EU.
Source: IMMOEAST
