In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, dealmakers are broadly positive about the prospects for M&A in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CEE/SEE), according to a new survey from Wolf Theiss and Mergermarket. Just over half (52%) of respondents said that the health crisis will increase their appetite for deals in the next 12 months.

Austria-based retail developer and operator SES Spar European Shopping Centers has announced the opening of a new retail park in the Hungarian city of Kaposvár which will take place on 11 March 2021. S-PARK Kaposvár is a supraregional supply centre featuring strong anchor stores, including the only Interspar market of the city, located in the southwest of the country. The addition of S-PARK Kaposvár increases SES’s property portfolio to a total of 30 shopping destinations in six countries.

There were 11,185 residential property deals made in Hungary in January 2021, according to the latest monthly transaction estimate by real estate group Duna House. This is the highest figure recorded for the month of January in the last five years.

CBRE Hungary has assisted Henkel in the sale of its Budapest headquarters in District 11 of the capital’s Buda side, the company announced on Linkedin. The buyer’s name and the transaction price have not been disclosed. 

The Castorama network of renovation and construction stores will expand with five new stores, which until recently operated under the Tesco brand. Each of them will be reconstructed, adapting not only to the standards of the new owner, according to DlaHandlu.pl.

Poland saw 33 new schemes delivered to the market in 2020 despite retail being in crisis. What does the future hold for the newly-built and existing shopping centres and retail parks? Beata Kokeli, Head of Retail Agency at Cushman & Wakefield, talks about trends in the retail sector.

Panattoni is preparing 36,500 sqm of warehouse space for Grupa Allegro – the largest online shopping platform in this part of Europe. The company is to move into A2 Warsaw Park, which is a huge development with one fully commercialised building of over 100,000 sqm. The new location will allow Allegro to develop its logistics platform to serve the companies that sell goods on its website and speed up the process of fulfilling orders. For this transaction, the tenant was represented by consultancy Colliers International.

Romanian car manufacturer Automobile Dacia extended its lease for the 69,000 sqm occupied in Pitești Industrial Park, a project owned by Globalworth. 

Atrium European Real Estate Limited has priced a €300 million inaugural green bond offering due 5 September 2027 under its EMTN Programme. The New Green Notes are issued by Atrium Finance Issuer B.V. and are guaranteed by Atrium. An amount equal to the net proceeds of the offering will be allocated to finance or refinance eligible projects and assets.

Katowice-based real estate developer DL Invest Group, which has managed to build a significant portfolio of office, retail and logistics assets across Poland, sees further growth potential in all three major asset classes. Dominik Leszczyński, Founder and CEO of DL Invest Group shared his expansion strategy for the coming years with Property Forum.