The sale of Prague’s Palladium is entering the final stages. According to two independent sources, the first bids have been submitted lately, reports Seznamzpravy.cz. And three finalists have emerged from them.
According to several independent sources of Seznam zpravy, among them are Reico and the Investika consortium with the Wood & Company investment group. The third, according to a source familiar with the real estate market, is the Trigea fund from the financial consulting firm Partners.
On the other hand, the French giant Klépierre, which owns seventy shopping centres in ten European countries, has dropped out of the game.
The owner of Palladium is the German investment company Union Investment, which, according to information from SZ Byznys, wants to get around €700 million from the sale. It admitted its intention to sell Palladium at the beginning of this year. The centre in the heart of Prague offers 41,000 sqm of shopping space and another 18,000 sqm are office. According to the Palladium website, the centre has 163 shops and twenty-five restaurants. There are 700 parking spaces. The consulting company CBRE is advising the owners on the sale. It did not want to comment on the progress of the sale, nor did potential buyers.
The current sale of Palladium only confirms the long-term trend, where local capital prevails on the Czech market. In the case of commercial real estate, domestic players account for up to 90 per cent of all investments. Foreign players are taking advantage of opportunities in their home markets, where real estate prices have fallen more significantly than in the Czech Republic.
The requested amount may range from €600 to 700 million. Ten years ago, Union Investment paid 570 million euros for the shopping centre. No one had ever paid that much for real estate in the Czech Republic before.
