Globalworth Asset Managers SRL has entered into a conditional investment agreement to acquire a minimum of 50.01% and up to 67.90% of the issued share capital of Griffin Premium RE, a Dutch entity listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
GPRE is a pure-play Polish real estate platform that primarily owns high-quality office and mixed-use assets located in Warsaw and across a number of other key cities, notably Wroclaw, Lodz, Krakow and Katowice. Its portfolio comprises six office and three mixed-use (office and retail) properties. The portfolio has a gross leasable area of 171,000 sqm, an aggregate value of €508 million, annualised net operating income of €33.9 million, occupancy of 97.6% and a weighted average lease term of 4.5 years (all as at 30 June 2017). The office space is predominantly leased to a diversified mix of blue-chip tenants, including Infosys, Hewlett-Packard, Capita, Phillips and Deutsche Bank, with leading retail tenants including LPP Group and Inditex Group.
GPRE has also secured an attractive investment pipeline, including a forward funding agreement for an office in Wroclaw currently under development and a 25% interest in three offices in Warsaw currently under development for which the company has an option to acquire the remaining 75% stake upon completion, all expected to be delivered over the next two years. In addition it has contracted to acquire a further three high quality office properties in Wroclaw, Gdansk and Katowice from Echo Polska Properties for an aggregate purchase price of €160 million, which are expected to be acquired before 31 January 2018.
The Investment will be effected by way of a public tender offer available for subscription by all holders of shares in GPRE which Globalworth will make, at a price per GPRE share of PLN 5.50, subject to the maximum resultant shareholding by the company in GPRE being 67.90%. Depending on the outcome of the public offer, the total consideration payable by Globalworth for the investment will range between €99.5 million at the minimum 50.01% shareholding to a maximum of €135.1 million at the maximum 67.90% level. Globalworth may look to make further investments in GPRE in the future should the opportunity arise.
Dimitris Raptis, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Globalworth, commented: "As our largest investment to date and our first transaction outside of the Romanian market, this expansion into Poland, the largest market in Central and Eastern Europe, is a pivotal development in Globalworth's strategy to establish itself as the region's leading office investor. As previously stated, we have prioritised the Polish market as a core target for expansion due to its size, liquidity, strong fundamentals and depth of opportunities. Drawing on GPRE's strong experience and excellent reputation in the Polish market, we will continue to grow its portfolio in Poland as we strive to become the partner of choice for the wide variety of high-quality tenants looking to expand in the region".
