Marvipol splits into two

One will be dedicated to real estate and the other to the automotive industry. The third pillar of the group – a chain of car washes – is to be put up for sale. In H2 2015 the automotive division is to enter the Warsaw Stock Exchange as a separate entity under the name of M Automotive Holding. Marvipol’s main shareholder (personally and via Książek Holding) Mariusz Książek is, however, planning to retain app. 50 shares of the new company, while Marvipol’s shareholders also become shareholders of the automotive company as a result of the separation of the group. A considerable proportion of the funds for its growth will be raised by a share issue. The car dealer chain is to double its size by 2020 (from 10 to 20 dealers). The planned investment expenditure amounts to PLN 60 mln by 2018 and the sales of cars (Land Rover, Range Rover, Jaguar and Aston Martin) is projected by the company to reach 2,000 per year by 2016 with an operating margin of at least 8 pct. Over the next 12–24 months Marvipol is looking to relinquish its chain of its car washes. “The scale of this business is too small for our group’s conditions so it has no strategic character for us. Nevertheless it is profitable so we will not be in a lot of hurry to sell it,” said Paweł Szymański, the vice-president of Marvipol. In the development segment Marvipol wants to be the third largest player on the residential Warsaw market with ambitions to sell at least 800 apartments per year starting from 2016. The company wants to develop this segment of its operations with a gross margin of minimum 20 pct, while focusing on the standard segment complemented with the premium offer. It is in negotiations over the purchase of a number of plots in Warsaw, but is particularly interested in such locations as Mokotów, Ursynów, Wola and Praga Południe – where the company is considering investing in a plot where a useable and residential area of 100,000 sqm could be built. Marvipol is already carrying out a project with a potential of 140,000 sqm of useable and residential area on ul. Kłobucka on the boundary of Warsaw’s Ursynów and Mokotów districts. The company prefers to buy land with a definite legal status, allowing for sales to start within twelve months. It has not ruled out carrying projects out together with equity partners, but is only interested in residential projects, though. However, it does own the Prosta Tower office building in Warsaw’s Wola district, but is planning to sell it in the long term. “In the short term we are considering refinancing the project up to PLN 60–65 mln, but eventually we want to sell it,” disclosed Paweł Szymański. This could happen quite quickly. “A few days ago I found an offer to buy Prosta Tower on my desk,” Mariusz Książek has exclusively revealed to ‘Eurobuild CEE’. “I am considering this, but we have also been looking at other offers. The decision to sell or refinance the office building should be made at the end of September or early October,” adds Marvipol’s main shareholder and founder. According to our research the offer was made by a German investment fund. A real estate market expert who would like to remain anonymous disclosed to us that: “it is a fund interested in purchasing smaller and medium-sized projects.”