During the pandemic, banks continued to finance ongoing commercial real estate projects but they are more careful with financing new ones, looking for higher corporate credentials and imposing more restrictive conditions to fulfil. Monia Dobrescu, Partner at Romanian law firm Mușat & Asociații talked to Property Forum about the pandemic’s effects on client relationships and provided market insight from the legal advisor’s perspective.

Hungary-based Alfa Group plans to raise approximately HUF 10 billion in its first Green Bond issue scheduled for October 2021. Ohad Epschtein, Managing Partner of Alfa Group International talked to Property Forum about the importance of sustainability and he also shared some details about the company’s expansion strategy.

Slovak developer Immocap has secured €44 million of construction financing and €50 million of investment financing by UniCredit Bank for The Mill office project in Bratislava’s Mlynské Nivy. The completion of the project is expected in 2023.

Since 2007, when the European Investment Bank (EIB) issued the world's first Climate Action Bond (CAB), green bonds have evolved from a marketing tool into one of the fastest-growing investment vehicles. This trend is also visible in the real estate market and is expected only to strengthen, according to Colliers.

The Arete Investment and Real Estate Group signed an agreement with Raiffeisenbank to draw a €30 million umbrella credit line. The funds will be used to accelerate the growth of the Arete Industrial SICAV fund's portfolio through prepared acquisitions and new construction of industrial real estate while maintaining a safe and conservative LTV ratio.

CTP has completed its largest green bond issuance to date, following the company’s March IPO and recent inclusion in the Euronext AScX index. Structured as a dual-tranche, CTP raised a total of €1 billion under its €4 billion EMTN programme. The issue included a €500 million four-year tranche and a €500 million eight-year tranche. Total demand for the issue reached nearly €4 billion, evidencing the solid standing that CTP holds on the international bond markets.

Wood & Company has obtained a loan of €229.5 million, one of the highest amounts in the Slovak real estate market, to refinance the debt of the Aupark shopping centre in Bratislava. The financing will be provided by several European banking groups, all of which have operated historically in Slovakia. 

Eurovea 2 obtained one of the largest real estate loans in Slovakia in recent years. Funding in the amount of €116 million will be used for the construction of the extension of the Eurovea shopping centre and the adjacent Pribinova X office building. Construction work by JTRE on both buildings is in full swing. The loan is provided by a syndicate of banks led by Tatra banka, together with Slovenská sporiteľňa and UniCredit Bank. The contract documentation was prepared by Dentons.

Hungarian real estate brokerage firm Otthon Centrum has completed an €8 million (HUF 2.9 billion) bond issue under the National Bank of Hungary's (MNB) Bond Funding for Growth Scheme. This marks the first time the company has taken part in the central bank's bond programme.

Subsidiaries of Polish industrial developer MLP Group have secured a €73.4 million loan for financing its portfolio from a consortium of BNP Paribas Bank Polska and PKO Bank Polski.