Boldly going… down the Danube

Nathan North, ‘Eurobuild CEE’: You seem to be focusing on becoming the leading owner/manager of warehouse properties in Romania. Why are you focusing on this country so much and how extensive are your expansion plans there?

Remon l. Vos, CEO of CTP: CTP opened an office in Romania back in 2006 and bought two strategic land plots in 2007 for CTPark projects. One close to Cluj on the Turda motorway exit and the second site CTP bought at that time is located in Piteşti, some 100 km west of Bucharest with close proximity to the Romanian automotive industry. From 2008 until 2013 we did relatively little in Romania and focused on extending our portfolio in the Czech Republic. In 2013 we agreed with one of our existing clients from Germany to build them a factory in Turda, at our existing business park. They’re satisfied with their production facility in the Czech Republic but needed something closer to their client in Romania. Our investment in Romania and the construction of the first properties are driven by the demand of our existing clients.

Since the beginning of the year you have been acquiring assets in this sector from other operators who are leaving the country. Why should Romania be so interesting to you when others are leaving this market?

Over the past twelve months we have been able to acquire a number of strategic assets in different locations throughout Romania. Some of the assets, like the CTPark Arad with land and existing buildings of 44,000 sqm, have been bought from Volksbank. CTP has also acquired two assets from ING. In addition we have acquired our second property in Deva purchased from a Belgium investor. That property of app. 25,000 sqm with extension opportunities is occupied by Carrefour, Havi and Tibbett Logistics. In the meantime we have also secured a number of built-to-lease projects mainly for existing clients like Faurecia, for whom we are building a factory at our Piteşti business park. At the same time we are constructing a 25,000 sqm distribution centre for supermarket operator Profi in Cluj at the airport. We have bought sites in Sibiu and extended our land bank in Turda. In addition to the projects and acquisitions in the central and western part of Romania, we have been actively buying land and existing property in Bucharest. Our growth and expansion plans are driven by our clients. Around 400 international companies are renting space throughout the CTPark Network for the manufacturing or distribution and logistics. Many of these existing clients have asked CTP to provide property solutions throughout the region. CTP has been actively extending its footprint out of the Czech Republic with projects in Slovakia and Romania. This growth is happening through constructing properties in new locations, often for existing clients or through acquisitions.

Romania has a lot to offer in terms of an educated work-force at a competitive cost. The country has changed a lot and many infrastructure projects have been completed; the road network has improved significantly and is being extended every day. Also, there is a lot of political support. The quality of existing property in Romania is often ‘B’ class, and only a few developers are seriously investing in ‘A’ class properties. CTP believes we can offer full service business park projects throughout Romania and to existing clients in particular. The GDP of the country is growing significantly, there is healthy demand and very little stock and the existing stock is often of a poor quality as it has been built when people were in a hurry with a short-term view.

Refurbish them if needed, upgrade them to ‘A’ class properties. For instance we are installing LED lights, doing all the necessary repairs, renting them and looking after the properties for the years to come as these will form part of our portfolio which will be at app. 3 mln sqm by the year-end and we are on schedule to have a portfolio of 5 mln sqm by 2020.

Are you looking at such major expansion in the other countries you are present in – or in new markets?

Our biggest market remains the Czech Republic, but we are also constructing and acquiring properties in Slovakia for instance. I expect by the year-end we would own properties in Slovakia with a total leasable area of app. 200,000 sqm. Recently CTP has also acquired land at Ljubljana airport in Slovenia and we are continuing to prepare other projects across the region.

And what about your activities in Poland? You were developing a technology park near Katowice a few years back. What is the scale of your activities in Poland and do you have any plans for further development and investment here?

CTP owns a few properties in Poland occupied by DHL, these have been acquired recently. CTP’s acquisition and growth plan currently focuses on other central European countries.

What is the focus of your business right now? Acquisitions, development, asset management etc.?

CTP currently employs around 170 people, these people are involved in the construction of new property, often custom-built industrial property for manufacturing in combination with repair centres, R&D, etc. CTP employs a team of civil engineers who are responsible for construction management. We also have a team of people responsible for property management. Furthermore, when it comes to M&A, finance and accounting, business development, etc., CTP´s headquarters for the region is located in Prague with a subsidiary in Humpolec at our CTPark Humpolec, the first business park developed in the region. Project managers are located on site, while CTP has offices throughout the region. CTP has been hiring new staff to extend the finance and accounting department and is always looking for talented civil engineers. In addition to new built projects, we focus on improving the standards of the older properties in the portfolio in order to make sure that these are in an excellent condition.

And what about sectors other than industrial projects? How involved are you with the office and other sectors?

CTP owns various office projects with a total lettable area of around 180,000 sqm. Some of the office buildings are located within our business parks and are somehow related to the manufacturing activities of our clients. Honeywell at our CTPark Brno is a good example. Other office developments are located in the city centres of various important regional cities. CTP´s core business is to manage and extend the
CTPark Network offering a variety of five different building types. This year´s rental income will exceed EUR 150 mln and should exceed EUR 180 mln next year.

The founding father

Remon L. Vos is the chief executive officer of Netherlands-based developer and property manager CTP, which operates mainly in 
the Czech Republic and also across the CEE region. He established the company in 1998, since when he has built it up to become the
largest Czech developer and the fourth-largest industrial developer in Europe – with more than 2.3 mln sqm of leasable space by the end of 2014 in a portfolio valued at EUR 2.36 bln and generating a yearly profit before tax of EUR 275 mln. Remon has a passion for sports cars and participated in half-ironman triathlons and endurance rallies.