CA Immo has concluded an agreement with WOOD & Company to sell the Šestka Shopping Center in Prague, continuing its strategic withdrawal from segments that do not belong to the core business. The centre covers more than 27,300 sqm of retail space and had been part of the asset portfolio of CA Immo since 2011. The buyer is a fund of WOOD & Company, the leading investment bank in Emerging Europe. The transaction, which is subject to the standard conditions precedent, is expected to be closed within the next weeks. It was agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Law firm Clifford Chance Prague advised the seller on the disposal.

M7 Real Estate, a pan-European investor and asset manager, has raised its first Central European fund. M7 Central European Real Estate Fund I (M7 CEREF I) has received investor commitments from a number of family office and high net worth individuals totalling over €35 million to be deployed in the region. Following this initial raise, M7 CEREF I has acquired Oregon House in Prague. 

HB Reavis’ Central Europe Real Estate Fund (CEREIF) has sold its retail asset, Aupark Piestany in Slovakia, to New Europe Property Investments (NEPI) for €39.5 million. The shopping centre, totalling 10,000 sqm of GLA and 380 parking spaces, is home to brands such as CCC Shoes, Mango, Orsay and 

Emerging Europe Properties Fund and Discovery Group have sold Nakupní Park Centro Ostrava to Focus Estate Fund. The subject of the sale is a fully leased retail park in Ostrava. Operating since 2011, it offers 7,700 sqm of retail space. Long-term tenants include Mountfield, JYSK, Okay Electric, Breno, Jitona, Kasa, Super Zoo, and Rossmann.

The Polish property market has long been the region’s frontrunner and it seems like that nothing can slow it down. In spite of all the fears of last year related to political instability and the Warsaw office market getting potentially overheated, investment volumes are up significantly and development activity is stronger than ever. Piotr Mirowski, Director of CEE Investment Services at Colliers International Poland talked to us about the country’s investment market. 

Deka Immobilien GmbH has secured the building complex “The Park” in Prague under a purchase agreement with a controlled affiliate of global private investment firm Starwood Capital Group. Under the terms of the transaction—which were not disclosed—the office park will be transferred to the new institutional fund Deka-Immobilien Fokus Prag (DIFP). The fund will be launched when the sale is closed, which is expected to take place at the end of October.

Echo Investment – a Polish developer – and Echo Polska Properties – an international fund operating as a REIT - signed agreements to jointly buy and jointly develop a real property at ul. Towarowa 22 in Warsaw from Griffin Real Estate, a Polish private equity fund. The buyers will pay €120 million for the property – €78 million upon signing the agreement, while the remaining amount will be paid after certain planning conditions are met.

Echo Polska Properties – an international fund operating as a REIT –is purchasing seven office buildings with almost 112,000 sqm of GLA from Echo Investment, a Polish developer. The total value of the properties as at the agreement amounts to almost €264 million. The sold properties are: O3 Business Campus in Kraków (phase I, II and III), Tryton Business House in Gdańsk, A4 Business Park in Katowice (phase III) and Symetris Business Park in Łódź (phase I and II).

This year has witnessed new players entering Central and Eastern European markets which, when combined with investments from the region's traditional players, has further increased CEE investment activity. Colliers, Skanska and JLL has released a joint report that analyses the region’s potential as an investment location.

The Real Estate Workout department of Erste Group Bank AG, has concluded the sale of the luxury resort Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Sun Gardens to a Chinese investor under the terms of a share deal. The property – one of the largest hotel complexes in Croatia – enjoys a prime beachside location in Dubrovnik.