Metro Properties, the real estate company of METRO AG, sold 11 Cash & Carry stores in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic in a sale-and-leaseback transaction. The portfolio has been acquired by FLE GmbH, Vienna, subsidiary of French LFPI Group, investing on behalf of an AIF regulated fund. The transaction was finalized in August 2019, with a total volume exceeding €250 million. Metro and Makro Cash & Carry will continue to operate all wholesale locations on the basis of long-term lease contracts.

Budapest-based commercial real estate investor and developer, ConvergenCE has announced the acquisition of the Central Business Center office building in the 2nd district of Budapest. ConvergenCE acquired the building in Horvát Street from Immonfinanz.

Cromwell Property Group has exercised its pre-emptive right to acquire a third-party investor interest in the Cromwell Polish Retail Fund (CPRF), which it has managed since acquiring the investment and asset manager from GE Capital Real Estate in 2013. The fund contains seven catchment dominating shopping centres with a gross asset value of circa €600 million. Since taking over the management of the fund, Cromwell has completed several major asset management initiatives including several refurbishments and expansions, as well as numerous lettings including a 170,000 sqm deal with Auchan and Schiever Polska across eight long-term leases in 2015.

Immofinanz is driving the steady growth of its Stop Shop retail park brand, as previously announced, with a next step that includes the expansion of the portfolio to 90 locations. The most recent acquisitions include six fully rented retail parks in Slovenia and Poland with roughly 54,000 sqm of rentable space. The annual rental income based on invoiced rents amounts to approximately €6.6 million, which represents a gross return of 8.6%.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank provided an investment loan and a VAT facility totalling €52 million to an open-ended special alternative fund managed by Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate. The fund will use the proceeds for the acquisition of the newly built White House office building in Budapest from developer GTC. pbb acted as arranger and sole lender under the facilities.

Joki Sp. z o.o. - a subsidiary of Marvipol Development - has finalized the purchase of a plot of around ​​2.6 ha, located on Bokserska Street in Warsaw. The transaction value is €12.44 million (PLN 54.3 million). The sale process was organized by experts from the international advisory firm JLL representing the vendor.a

Following the acquisition of the Warsaw Spire Tower high-rise, Immofinanz is taking a further step to optimise its office portfolio in Warsaw. A new multifunctional concept was prepared for the EMPARK office location, which originally covered 117,000 sqm of rentable space, to meet the demand for mixed-use through the inclusion of residential and commercial areas. Immofinanz plans to concentrate on the management and further modernisation of the four EMPARK office buildings, while the section designated for housing will be sold to the Polish developer Echo Investment.

The valuation team of Cresa Poland advised Colas, part of the Bouygues Group, on their acquisition of 11 asphalt plants from Skanska. 

Spaceflow announced the completion of a €1.6 million funding round led by Credo Ventures with participation from Day One Capital and UP21. The round will help Spaceflow achieve its strategic growth goals in the USA and UK, and also expand its product development team to continue refining its platform and service offerings.

Zeitgeist Asset Management, a company specializing in development services and asset management for private and institutional investors, purchased two properties in Kraków from Orange. One of them is a historic building at ul. Wielopole 2, where the seat of the Main Post Office is located, the second one is a partially built-up plot at ul. Cystersów 21.