Wood & Company has increased its stake in the Bratislava shopping centre Aupark by 27%. Currently, Wood & Company and TAM own 87% of the asset. The stable annual performance of over 11% is now confirmed by Wood & Company's real estate funds.
Wood & Company's real estate funds continue to confirm their stable performance. The fund oriented towards office buildings (Office sub-fund) earned an annual return of 11.54% as of 30 June 2022, the fund oriented towards shopping centres (Retail sub-fund) up to 15.43%. The AUP Bratislava sub-fund, which was created in connection with the acquisition of the Aupark Bratislava shopping centre, also performed well. The fund's total return since inception is 10.40%. A new development in the case of Aupark is the increase in the share of the joint venture partners Wood & Company and TAM (Tatra Asset Management) to 87%.
Wood & Company continues to increase its stake in Aupark
Wood & Company, as the transaction leader, together with joint venture partner Tatra Asset Management, acquired a 60% stake in Aupark from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) last year at a total value of €450 million (for 100% of the shares). After the 27% stake increase, Wood & Company and TAM's current stake in the Aupark Bratislava shopping centre is 87%. URW is represented in the shareholding structure with 13%, while the company continues to act as property manager in Aupark. The implementation of the remaining tranches, which should increase the share of Wood & Company and TAM to the final 100%, is scheduled for 2024.
Return of visitors reflected in AUP sub-fund returns
The tranches to date have also been delivered through funding from investors in the Wood & Company AUP Bratislava real estate sub-fund. The fund was launched in January 2021 and is focused on investing in one asset - the Aupark Bratislava shopping centre. As of 30 June 2022, the fund has achieved a total return since its inception of 10.40% in the euro investment share class.
"The interest to participate in investing in Aupark through new tranches is a sign of investor confidence in retail even after the corona crisis. The performance of the AUP Bratislava sub-fund is, in turn, a reflection of the ability of this asset to cope with challenging periods, as well as the well-adjusted transaction conditions at the time of its acquisition," says Michal Kasana, sales manager at Wood & Company, assessing the results of the fund." The good news in connection with Aupark is also the arrival of new tenants, including Palmers, JOTT, Alpha Industries, Bombay Expres, Delia and others.
Office and Retail sub-fund returns above 10%
In addition to the AUP Bratislava sub-fund, Wood & Company also manages two other real estate funds focused on commercial real estate. These are the Wood & Company Office sub-fund and the Wood & Company Retail sub-fund. The Wood & Company Office sub-fund was established in 2017. The sub-fund focused on high-quality office properties includes Bratislava's Aupark Tower, Lakeside Park 01, Lakeside Park 02, BBC1, BBC1 Plus, BBC5 and Westend Tower, Prague's office buildings Hadovka Office Park, The Greenline and Green Point or Astrum Business Park in Warsaw. The total lettable area of the portfolio amounted to 195,400 sqm as of 30 June 2022. The value of the sub-fund's assets stood at €418.8 million with a net operating income (NOI) of €30.3 million. The fund's annualized return was 11.54% as of June 30, 2022.
The Wood & Company Office sub-fund provides investors with an opportunity for stable appreciation in a targeted range of 8-10%. "The value of the fund increased primarily due to the purchase of two new office buildings - Warsaw's Astrum Business Park and Prague's Green Point. The yield of 11.54% is the result of the long-term high occupancy of the buildings above 93% and the growing value of the portfolio, which was confirmed by the latest valuation", says Martin Šmigura, Investment Director at Wood & Company, responsible for the Group's real estate activities.
