Redefine Properties is to expand its Polish property platform with the acquisition of a strategic 25% stake in a €1 billion retail portfolio of 28 assets in Poland. Redefine is co-investing with Pimco and Oaktree Capital Management who will each have 37.5% of the portfolio which is being acquired. Key locations in the portfolio stretch from Warsaw to growing regions across the country like Krakow and Silesia.

NEPI Rockcastle has acquired Alfa Centrum shopping centre in the city of Bialystok in Poland from A-JWK Management sp. z o.o. The aggregate purchase price for Alfa Bialystok was €92.3 million, representing an acquisition yield of approximately 6.7%.

In Q3 the modern retail market in Poland grew by nearly 140,000 sqm of GLA. This is a significant increase as compared to the first half of the year when only a mere 26,000 sqm of GLA within 5 schemes were completed. Notably, the first IKEA store was delivered in Lublin with the residents of Poland’s eastern regions in mind. According to BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland, the end of the year is set to bring more than 200,000 of GLA sqm in new retail projects.

Deutsche Hypothekenbank is financing the Galeria Baltycka shopping centre in Gdansk for real estate company Shopping-Center Galeria Baltycka GmbH und Co. KG sp.K. The financing volume amounts to almost €81 million, of which 50% will remain with Deutsche Hypo on a long-term basis.

NEPI Rockcastle has invested nearly €30 million in the expansion and modernisation of Shopping City Galati and the first brands that will appear following the expansion will be inaugurated on November 16. An additional 21,000 sqm was added to the 27,000 sqm shopping centre.

The Property Management department at BNP Paribas Real Estate Poland ran the rebranding process for the shopping centres that have recently changed hands from Ikea Centres Polska to the Pradera fund. The new name and corporate design can now be seen in Polish and German locations.

Polish Enterprise Fund VII, a private equity fund managed by Enterprise Investors (EI), has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of shares in CBA Slovakia a.s., an independent food retailer in Slovakia. The total value of the transaction has not been disclosed. As part of the deal, EI will provide €16 million additional equity funding to deleverage the business and finance expansion.

The ParkLake shopping mall in Bucharest, developed by a joint venture of Sonae Sierra and Caelum Development, has received a BREEAM certification with a rating of ‘Excellent’.

Albanian company Balfin Group has acquired a 155 000 sqm plot of land, 1.5 km from the centre of Skopje. The company plans to develop the first mixed-used real-estate development project in excess of 250,000 sqm gross build area, estimated to be largest private investment of this type in Macedonia. The development plans include a new 45 000 sqm gross leasable area shopping mall, residential block and an office park. The overall total investment of the company is planned to be circa €180 million over a time-span of 5-7 years, with €100 million investment in first phase, creating thousands of new jobs and opportunities. The company states that the shopping mall will be developed first, and the apartments and office towers over the next 5-7 years.

The Bulgarian property market is booming with the total transaction volume expected to exceed €1 billion in 2017. The outlook for the future is highly positive: strong demand, underpinned by solid economic growth, encourages developers to start new projects in all segments of the market.