NEPI Rockcastle, through its subsidiary, has acquired all the issued shares in the Forum Gdańsk shopping centre from a company ultimately owned by Blackstone-managed funds. The transaction encompassed the repayment of all the asset’s outstanding debt. Forum Gdańsk is a 63,500 sqm GLA shopping centre, situated in Gdańsk, the sixth largest city in Poland by population, with over 470,000 inhabitants.
The acquisition represents one of the biggest single-asset shopping centre transactions by value in Europe in 2022 and is accretive to the Group’s distributable earnings. The transaction is in line with NEPI Rockcastle’s investment strategy to increase the concentration of its portfolio in countries with an investment-grade rating and focus on core dominant properties. With a catchment area of over 840,000 people (within 30 minutes drive), the property enjoys a strategic location in the city, with excellent visibility and access from all city districts.
Forum Gdańsk has a BREEAM In-use Excellent certification and an occupancy rate of 93%, including anchor tenants such as Eurospar, H&M, Helios, Reserved, TK Maxx, Van Graaf and Zara.
“Forum Gdańsk represents a compelling investment opportunity. We strongly believe in retail real estate and its positive outlook, despite concerns over the macroeconomic context and potential slowdown as a result of the rising inflation and interest rates. We are long-term investors and we are confident that fundamentally Central and Eastern Europe is a region that will continue to show further economic growth in the future,” says Rüdiger Dany, CEO of NEPI Rockcastle.
The effective date of the transaction is 19 December 2022. The aggregate purchase price for the transaction is €250 million, of which €50 million comprises vendor financing payable by NEPI Rockcastle within a maximum period of three years, at a fixed interest rate of 6.5%. The coupon is payable quarterly from the effective date of the transaction.
Further to the announcement on 15 November 2022, the NEPI Rockcastle also announced that the acquisition of Copernicus Shopping Centre became effective as of 19 December 2022, following receipt of the Competition Council approval. The two transactions cement NEPI Rockcastle’s position in the Polish market, with ownership of two high-quality performing retail assets in the country.
