Investment &amp; finance

WORLD The European Commission has approved the acquisition of one of the world’s largest auction houses, Sotheby’s of the US, by Next Alt of Luxembourg.

Investment sites still in demand

27 August 2019

POLAND Commercial land prices in Poland have been stable over the first half of 2019, while prices for residential sites are continuing their rising trend but at a slower pace, according to Colliers International.

Kraków Old Town building for sale

27 August 2019

POLAND Bank Pekao has put up for sale a listed tenement building at the junction of the Rynek Główny main square and ul. Szewska in Kraków’s Old Town.

Warimpex in the green

27 August 2019

EUROPE Warimpex Finanz-und Beteiligungs recorded a EUR 17.9 mln profit in H1, compared to a EUR 4.3 mln loss a year earlier. As the company explains, this can be attributed primarily to property sales, valuation gains and exchange rate gains.

EUR 52 mln loan for Warburg

26 August 2019

HUNGARY PBB Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided a EUR 52 mln investment and VAT loan to an open-ended special alternative fund managed by Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate for the purchase of the White House office building in Budapest.

Czech investment to exceed EUR 3 bln

23 August 2019

CZECH REPUBLIC The commercial real estate investment volume in the Czech Republic could exceed EUR 3 bln this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield. After a good H1, when EUR 1.74 bln in real estate was transacted, the market in the second half of the year is also expected to thrive.

Patisha changes hands

23 August 2019

Nathan North
managing editor (English section)

POLAND Bulgarian civil engineering company Patisha AD has sold 90 pct of its shares to Zavodski Stroeji PS Pazardzhik, the oldest construction company in Pazardzhik region.

Romania outperforming the rest of the region

22 August 2019

ROMANIA The Romanian real estate market has recorded good results for H1 2019, with more dynamic activity in the office and investment segments than in some of its neighbours in the CEE region, according to Colliers International Romania.

Echo granted EUR 65 mln loan for Face2Face

19 July 2019

POLAND Bank Pekao has granted Echo Investment a EUR 65 mln loan for the construction of the Face2Face Business Campus office complex in Katowice.

Nathan North
managing editor (English section)

EPGC fails in Metro takeover bid

19 August 2019

EUROPE EP Global Commerce, the Czech-Slovak holding controlled by Daniel Křetínský, has failed to reach the minimum acceptance threshold of 67.5 pct of its voluntary takeover offer for German retailer Metro AG.

Trade down

EUROPE The Eurostat’s first estimate for the volume of exports from the euro area (EA19) to the rest of the world in June 2019 was EUR 189.9 bln, down 4.7 pct y-o-y.

Atrium undervalued says Letko

Alex Hayes
journalist

CEE REGION Investment manager Letko Brosseau & Associates has declared its intention to vote against Gazit Globe’s buyout of Atrium European Real Estate, in which it controls a 2.4 pct stake making it the second largest shareholder in the company.

Etalon completes Leader-Invest purchase

RUSSIA Etalon Group has completed the purhcase of the remaining 49 pct stake in residential developer Leader-Invest from Sistema for RUB 14.6 bln.

Baltic Horizon increases in value

EUROPE Tallinn based Baltic Horizon Fund has increased its net asset value per unit to EUR 1.3451. As of the end of July the value increased by 0.52 pct m-o-m.

Rents go up across CEE

EUROPE Office, retail and logistics rents increased in the second quarter of 2019 across the CEE region, according to the DNA of Real Estate report by Cushman & Wakefield.

Echo takes over Immofinanz office buildings

Alex Hayes
journalist

POLAND Immofinanz has sold a section of its Empark office development in Warsaw's Służewiec business district to Echo Investment. Prior to the deal, the Austrian investor had drawn up a concept design for a number of the buildings on the 1.17 ha plot to be pulled down to make way for a new residential development.

Skanska sells second Nowy Rynek building

POLAND Skanska has sold the second building that it is developing in its Nowy Rynek office complex in Poznań to Corum Asset Management for EUR 36 mln.

Centrum Krakov sold