Yovav Carmi, CEO and Ariel Ferstman, CFO of Globe Trade Centre talked to Property Forum about GTC`s recent acquisitions, the sale of the Serbian office portfolio, coping with COVID-19's long-term effects and their new investment strategy.

Globe Trade Centre has decided to sell its Belgrade office portfolio to the Hungarian investor Indotek Group. The proposed acquisition price is €267.6 million, exceeding the book value of GTC’s Serbia portfolio as of 31 December 2020. The agreement will cover the sale of 11 buildings within 5 business parks of a total 122,175 sqm GLA with high occupancy rates, located in the New Belgrade district. Once completed in Q3 2021, the sale will become one of the largest real estate transactions in the last 5 years on the CEE market.

Argo Properties N.V., a Dutch company active in the German residential private rented sector, completed an initial public offering in which Cordia International participated as a part of its international expansion strategy.

Slovenská sporiteľňa Asset Management’s ERSTE Realitná Renta real estate fund has bought Bratislava-based Zuckermandel’s office part from J&T Real Estate. This represents the 2019-founded fund’s first property portfolio acquisition.

The RSBC investment group of financier Robert Schönfeld bought the Milenium Center office complex on Hybešov Street in Brno from Generali Investments' CEE investment fund. The market value of the asset in the heart of the Moravian metropolis is estimated at €7.8 million (CZK 200 million).

GTC has appointed Eszter Salamon to the position of Transactions Director. Her in-depth sector knowledge and experience in real estate and financial operations will boost GTC’s optimization and expansion goals. As Transactions Director, Eszter Salamon will be responsible for real estate transactions across all GTC markets as the investor plans completion of large-scale transactions in various markets in the upcoming period.

Austrian real estate group Immofinanz will start the refurbishment of shopping centre VIVO! Baia Mare on June 1. The works on the project located in northern Romania will cover more than 10,000 sqm, which is one third of the total surface of the centre. 

UK-based property investor Resolution Property, a key partner of leading Chinese investment firm Fosun, has acquired its third office building in Budapest. The 16,270 sqm BC 140 building, located on the Váci Road office corridor, has been sold by German asset management company DWS.

According to Colliers, CEE 2021 year-end investment volumes are likely to reach similar levels to 2020. CEE economies are expected  to accelerate  throughout 2021 and 2022, at an average pace of ca. 4.3% annually

Romania recorded new real estate investments worth €85 million in the first quarter of 2021, down 42% year-on-year, in line with the lower results of other markets in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a report by Colliers.