TriGranit Group completes WestEnd City Center refinancing (HU)

TriGranit Group has completed WestEnd City Center refinancing with a syndicate of banks arranged by pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank.

"The more than 10-year successful operation of the WestEnd City Center in Budapest, Hungary and the around €400 million refinancing give additional recognition and credibility not only to WestEnd, but to Hungary, as well. This confidence is strongly founded by the fact that the majority of the banks in the new consortium have been involved in the financing of the WestEnd for more than 10 years now," commented Mr. Sándor Demján, Chairman of TriGranit Development Corporation.

The around €400 million facility has been provided by K&H Bank, MKB Bank, OTP Bank, pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, and Unicredit Group. Their participation is a strong proof that prime quality centers with prime management and visible owners like Mr. Sándor Demján, Mr. Peter Munk and Mr. Sándor Csányi can still serve as a safe harbor for the international banks in the rough seas of today's real estate finance.

Mr. Zsolt Szabó, Chief Investment Officer of TriGranit underlined, that the €400 million scale refinancing is a fairly large one in Europe. Since the Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy TriGranit – including this refinancing - has managed to bring €800 million fresh bank financing to its developments, less than 10% of this amount has been provided by Hungarian banks. The other half of the financing has been used for new investments. TriGranit – while its competitors stopped their new developments – opened Bonarka City Center in Krakow last year and the €300 million Arena Centar in Zagreb is to be opened on November 5, 2010.

Developed and managed by TriGranit, and located at the Budapest West train station, the WestEnd City Center comprises 49,700 m² of retail and entertainment space, 20,900 m² of offices, the WestEnd Hilton Hotel and a 22,300-m² rooftop garden and park. Thanks to its remarkable accessibility by subway, train, bus, and tram, it has, since its opening in 1999, established itself as a true inner city destination of its own.

Source: TriGranit

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