The EBRD is joining forces with Mid Europa Partners to strengthen Romanian supermarket and convenience chain Profi Rom Food S.R.L. by providing a €25 million equity investment. Profi operates around 523 stores in more than 272 localities throughout Romania. The EBRD’s financing will support a further expansion of the network, particularly into the country’s smaller towns.

Deutsche EuroShop AG has signed a purchase agreement for a shopping centre in the Czech Republic and approved a capital increase excluding subscription rights of up to 4.7 million new shares.

Skanska has acquired land in Prague, Czech Republic, from Codeco UK. The total investment amounts to CZK841 million (app. €31.1 million).

Pradera, a retail property fund and asset manager, has announced the first closing of the Pradera European Retail Parks SCSp, a Luxembourg fund. In a €900 million transaction agreed with IKEA Centres, the Fund has signed a contract to acquire 25 prime retail parks next to IKEA stores in eight European countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic.

Commerz Real, a subsidiary of Commerzbank, has purchased a historical office building, " Na příkopě 33" in the centre of Prague for its open-ended real estate fund HausInvest. The seller is Komerční banka, a subsidiary of Société Générale. The transaction price has not been disclosed.

ČS Real Estate fund, the largest and oldest Czech open-ended property fund, managed by REICO, has announced its intention to expand its acquisition programme to Poland and Hungary. 

Owner Strabag has put the five-star JW Marriott Hotel on the market, zf.ro reports. The potential sale is reported to have attracted interest from various foreign and local investors, including the Paval brothers, the owners of DIY retailer Dedeman. The value of the 402-room hotel is estimated to be around €100 million.

Luxembourg-based Rubik Ventures has sold an office building in the 11th district of Budapest to Videoton Group. The property, located on Bocskay Road, has 5,000 sqm of GLA and is fully leased to Colas Hungaria Zrt. 

Invesco Real Estate (IRE), a global real estate investment manager, has acquired the 232-room Sheraton Grand Hotel Krakow for €70 million on behalf of one of its UK pension fund separate account clients. The seller was hotel investor Algonquin.

The investment volume achieved in 2016 totalled almost €1.2 billion with 46 transactions recorded in core CEE hotel investment markets. In comparison, 2015 reached just over €700 million with 45 transactions. Austria was the star performer with almost €800 million transacted, which made up 67% of the total investment volume. In other CEE markets volume was lower than in 2015 with a particular decline in Poland which more than halved in volume. The Czech Republic accounted for 18% of total CEE investment share; most of the investment took place in Prague which saw 7 transactions including the Hilton Old Town, Park Hotel and Chopin Hotel.