ING Lease (Polska) and GE Real Estate have joined forces in a 50:50 venture to acquire Poznan´s King Cross shopping centre, which is currently under construction, in a EUR 60 mln sale and lease back transaction. Poznan Zonkil, a special purpose company set up by the King Cross Group, will begin its long term lease of the 60,000 sqm retail development after the project is completed during the first half 2005.
The transaction was arranged and structured by ING Lease (Polska), which also helped finance construction of the project by organizing a syndicated loan in which BRE Bank and PKO Bank Polski participated.
The King Cross Group operates shopping centres in Russia and Croatia as well as in its home market of Italy. In Poland the company currently has three centres, in Warsaw, Gdansk and Lodz.
Source: Eurobuild