As a result of the war in Ukraine, almost all companies are dealing with completely new situations and facing unexpected problems. The experts of the first panel of Bratislava Property Forum 2022 discussed how investment strategies have to adapt to the new situation.

Adventum Group, the CEE focused real estate investment manager, has signed contracts to acquire 18 retail park assets in the Czech Republic and Hungary anchored by Tesco in a €280 million transaction. The app. 360,000 sqm portfolio will be a significant addition to its growing portfolio of assets across the core CEE countries including Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. A banking consortium of OTP Bank Plc. and Erste Group (Erste Group Bank AG and Erste Bank Hungary Zrt.) has entered into a new €150 million acquisition facility to finance the acquisition of the portfolio. The acquisition facility was arranged by OTP Bank and Erste Bank.

The end of April marks one year since the announcement of the acquisition of the Aupark Bratislava shopping centre.  The actual change in the shareholder structure took place on 27 May 2021, after the financial and investment group Wood & Company bought a stake in Aupark from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW). The acquisition, worth a total of €450 million, has been hailed as the largest real estate transaction in Slovakia's history up to this date. The real estate fund AUP Bratislava, which was established in connection with the transaction, announced the amount of revenues for the year 2021.

Investment activity in Romania’s property market totaled €98.6 million in the first quarter of this year, up 75% compared to the same period of last year, according to a report by real estate consultancy Crosspoint Real Estate.

Adventum Group, the CEE focused real estate investment manager, has reached a significant milestone in its history with the approval of the co-investment by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The closing of the partnership is expected to complete by the end of May 2022.

​Given that the global tech giants are primarily headquartered outside Europe, analysing the recent trends in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can help to identify which locations are proving attractive for data centre operations. Cushman & Wakefield’s latest findings confirm that the largest investment activity continues in mature tech and financial hubs in Western Europe. A key driver for activity in this group of locations is the proximity to the high economic activity of these increasingly digitised markets, writes Dimitris Vlachopoulos, Partner, Head of Portfolio & Location Strategy, EMEA for Cushman & Wakefield.

Europe’s fundamental mismatch between voracious housing demand and the limited supply is driving massive investment growth in the residential sector and will continue to generate opportunities even amid geopolitical and economic uncertainties, according to a new report by Colliers.

The REICO ČS LONG LEASE fund managed by REICO investiční společnost České spořitelny, a.s., is buying BWI’s research and development centre in Kraków, Poland. The value of the fund’s new acquisition is approximately CZK 700 million (€27.3 million). 

WOOD & Company Real Estate Fund will acquire the Astrum Business Park office building in Warsaw from Prochem S.A. and the LFI investment fund, marking the Fund’s first real estate acquisition in Poland. The building has a total leasable area of over 23,000 sqm and is fully leased. The transaction is subject to the tax ruling procedure, the company announces on its website.

The construction, operation, financing, development and acquisition of commercial property in 2022 and beyond will continue to be impacted by the price of fuel, energy and construction materials. This will be combined with challenges in the supply chain, the nearshoring of operations and rapidly rising inflation, culminating in a direct effect on sale prices and the rent paid by occupiers, reveals a report by Colliers.