Commercial property investment in Romania totaled €1.25 billion in 2022, up 40% compared to the previous years, of which the biggest single deal was Pavăl Holding’s acquisition of CA Immo’s office portfolio for €600 million, according to real estate consultancy JLL România. Last year's result was the biggest since 2008.

PPF continues to divest its Russian portfolio. It has completed the sale of its 60 percent majority stake in the giant South Gate logistics centre near Moscow. The deal is said to be the largest of its kind in a decade, Russian news server Metalinfo.ru reports, cited by Czech daily E15.cz.

The commercial real estate investment market in the Czech Republic is stagnating. Analysts see the year 2023 as a challenging year. However, the market was dominated by domestic capital last year and there is still a mismatch in the expectations of buyers and sellers, according to a Knight Frank report.

The real estate investment market is impacted by increased inflation expectations, higher interest rates and the inflated cost of financing, and it will continue into 2023. It inevitably leads to increasing yield expectations. In most European markets across various sectors, yields have increased this year. According to BNP Paribas Real Estate, some price corrections are expected in some markets and asset types in 2023. The market expects to stabilize in the second half of the year when investment activity could also see some revival, reported 108 real estate agency. 

Accolade received a long-term financing for the 5 industrial parks in Poland: Gorzów Wielkopolski, Szczecin Załom (West), Szczecin Kniewska, Częstochowa and Kielce. The €129 million refinancing loan was delivered by its new financing partner Helaba. 

Occam New Home, a subsidiary of investment-development group Occam Real Estate, concluded negotiations for the entry of a strategic partner in December. Slovak investment group Across acquired a 50% stake in the company through its subsidiary Across Properties.

Globalworth announced the signing of two new facilities with Erste Group for an aggregate amount of €160 million. These facilities are part of the ongoing strategic management of our liquidity and debt management initiatives, further strengthening the company's liquidity position at attractive market terms.

A JV of Investika – a Czech retail investment fund, and Bud Holdings – a Luxembourg-based private equity company, became the new owner of the entire Face2Face Business Campus in Katowice. Echo Investment signed a sale agreement for the complex comprising two office buildings. The agreed price is about €110 million.

Panattoni has sold its fully-leased Silesia East logistics park near Katowice in the south of Poland, to Palmira Polska Sp. z.o.o, the Polish subsidiary of Frankfurt-headquartered investor and asset manager Palmira Capital Partners. The 32,000 sqm Grade A complex is part of a major logistics hub around Katowice, the capital of the Silesia region, which borders the Czech Republic and Slovakia and lies at the heart of the industrial and manufacturing centre of Central and Eastern Europe. The parties agreed not to disclose the value of the transaction.

Some developers forecast that sales prices will increase in the future purely as a result of the zero-emission requirements currently being placed on buildings but there is no consensus as to what the ultimate effect will be. Robert David, Partner and Tomáš Kren, Senior Associate at Wolf Theiss’ Prague office talked to Property Forum about the increasingly important role ESG compliance plays in real estate transactions and potential regulatory changes that can affect the market.