Croatia's AZ pension funds have acquired 99.9% of local real estate company M7 Primo for €21 million (HRK 161 million) via a capital increase ahead of M7 Primo's planned listing next year.
As part of an ongoing portfolio diversification, in the search for possibilities to guarantee stable returns on investment with at the lowest possible risk, AZ pension funds are launching long-term investments in companies whose business is investing in commercial real estate.
M7 Primo, as a platform for investment in commercial real estate, is planning to use the funding from the capital increase to take over a logistics and distribution centre and to further expand its business in the commercial real estate sector.
"We acknowledged as an excellent expansion possibility the investment in the logistical and distribution sector, which is rising, especially in the new circumstances influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic," Mario Staroselcic, Board Member at AZ’s management board said.
M7 Real Estate Hrvatska is part of London-based M7 Investment Group, which invests in real estate projects solely or in partnership with other institutional investors and currently manages portfolios of over 830 properties worth over €5.3 billion, in 14 European countries, including Croatia.
AZ's current investment in the Croatian economy totals HRK 5.2 billion. AZ pension funds are managed by Allianz ZB, a company owned by Allianz Zagreb and Croatia's Zagrebacka Banka.
