Allianz has acquired 100% of the share of the company who own ‘Central Shopping Center’ in Bratislava. The investment amounts to approx. €175m and is acquired from a company of IMMOCAP group, a Slovakian real estate development. It is the first real estate investment of Allianz in Slovakia. JLL Slovakia capital markets & advisory team advised Allianz in the transaction.
‘Central’ is one of the dominant and best performing shopping centers in the city center of Bratislava. It opened in October 2012 and comprises of approx. 40,000m² of leasable area on four floors as well as a roof park with water sources and playgrounds accessible to the public all year round. The center is leased to many well-known brands, including Armani, Diesel, Gant, L’Occitane, Mango, New Yorker and different brands of the Inditex Group. ECE is responsible for the management of the center.
Located in the New Town district, it benefits from a large and affluent catchment area with positive development due to ongoing constructions of new residential units.
“Our investment into Central Shopping Center is again an important step to a further diversification of Allianz´ real estate portfolio and to expand our investments in retail assets,” said Annette Kröger, CEO of Allianz Real Estate Germany. “At the same time it is an attractive opportunity to get exposure to the Slovakian market.”
"Acquisition of Central Shopping Centre underlines continuous attractiveness and increased interest in the Bratislava real estate market. We are extremely proud we could participate in this landmark transaction which represents one of the biggest real estate deals in recent history.“ added Miroslav Barnáš, managing director and head of capital markets at JLL Slovakia.
According to CBRE, investment in central and eastern European countries (excluding Russia) reached a historic high at over €9.55bn, with the retail sector proving the most fruitful. The sector accounted for 43% of the total investment volume for CEE. Investment into the core-CEE countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania) reached €8.4bn in 2015 - a 14% increase on 2014 – and is expected to rise in 2016.
