Atrium acquires the Focus Mall in Bydgoszcz, Poland for €122 million (PL)

Atrium European Real Estate Limited, a leading owner, operator and developer of retail real estate and shopping centers in Central and Eastern Europe, announces that it has agreed to acquire Focus Mall in Bydgoszcz, Poland from Aviva Investors for €122 million. The acquisition will be financed using existing cash resources and is subject to approval by the Polish antimonopoly office, which is expected to be finalised in Q4 2014.
The acquisition is in line with the Atrium’s strategy to become the dominant player in its core markets of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia through the purchase of strong income producing shopping centers which complement the Company’s existing portfolio. As a result of the acquisition, over 55% of Atrium’s total income producing portfolio by market value is in Poland, with 77% located in countries which have A- or above sovereign rating.
Focus Mall was originally developed in 2008 and is the dominant shopping center in Bydgoszcz. It comprises 41,000 m² of retail GLA across two storeys, which is currently 96.1% let to a number of anchor tenants including an approx.2,800 m² Alma supermarket, a Saturn electronics store and a Cinema City, as well as a large number of other high profile international and domestic retail fashion brands including C&A, H&M, Reserved, Cropp, House, Bershka, Pull & Bear and New Yorker.
Commenting on the acquisition, Rachel Lavine, CEO of Atrium, said: “The acquisition of Focus Mall allows us to add another dominant and modern shopping centre to our income producing portfolio and is in line with our strategy of acquiring established assets in the strongest economies of the CEE region. It is highly complementary to and further strengthens our existing Polish portfolio and gives us another great retail platform in one of our targeted top-tier cities in Poland.”
Source: Atrium