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.

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.

The ceremonial laying of the cornerstone for Ada Mall, GTC’s latest retail investment in Belgrade, was held on 6 March 2017. The opening of the 34,000-sqm mall is scheduled for autumn 2018.

The Octava FIZAN fund is in the process of acquiring a portfolio of 11 office and retail assets in Poland, including Onyx in Kraków and Centrum Krakowska 61, Renaissance Tower and Eureka Park in Warsaw, from two BPH FIZ funds. Savills is advising the buyer on the transaction, which is expected to be finalized by the end of H1 2017. The parties did not reveal the value of the acquired assets, but the estimated value significantly exceeds €100 million.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, Helaba and ING Bank have jointly underwritten an increase to an investment facility, totalling €67 million, to refinance Focus Mall Zielona Gora in Poland. This facility is in addition to a €164 million facility granted by the same banking consortium in 2016, for the Karolinka, Pogoria and Platan Shopping Centres in Poland. The assets are owned by Rockcastle Global Real Estate Company Limited. The transaction closed in February 2017. 

At end-2016, Poland’s total stock of modern shopping centres, including retail parks and outlet centres, reached 11.2 million sqm of GLA across 479 retail schemes. The Polish Retail Research Forum (PRRF) has summarized the retail market in Poland in H2 2016. 

Colliers REMS Hungary has been assigned the role of Center Manager including the operational management of the in total 220,000 sqm KÖKI Terminál shopping mall. The assignment also includes the management and technical support of tenant fitting out works.

The Romanian retail market continued to expand in 2016 with total stock reaching 1.22 million sqm in Bucharest and 2.3 million sqm in regional cities. For 2017 no major retail project is scheduled for completion in the capital, while 130,000 sqm are expected to be delivered in regional cities. DTZ Echinox Romania published its retail reports for 2016.

Poland’s total retail stock stood at nearly 14 million sqm at year-end 2016. Shopping centres continue to dominate the market, accounting for 73% of the country’s stock, followed by retail warehouses (18%), retail parks (8%) and outlet centres (1%). Last year’s new supply totalled 460,600 sqm, of which more than three-fourths were delivered across shopping centres. Twenty two new retail schemes were opened in 2016: 15 shopping centres, the largest being Posnania in Poznań (99,000 sqm) and Galeria Metropolia in Gdańsk (34,000 sqm), two retail parks and five standalone retail warehouses. Extensions and redevelopments of 13 existing schemes provided 74,000 sqm of leasable space, making up 16% of the total annual supply. Cushman & Wakefield presented its latest report on Poland’s retail market.