April 21 (SeeNews) - Dutch-based real estate developer Plaza Centers N.V. said on Friday it has officially opened a shopping and entertainment centre in Belgrade, sold to Israeli company BIG Shopping Centers Ltd in March.
The mall, named Big Fashion, has been 97% let and is expected to be fully leased out in the coming months, Plaza Centers said in a statement.
In line with the binding share purchase agreement with BIG Shopping Centers Ltd, Plaza Centers will receive 2 million euro ($2.1 million) for fulfilling its conditions around the successful opening of the shopping mall, Plaza added.
Investment in the shopping mall totals 80 million euro and the project opened 1,500 jobs, Belgrade mayor Sinisa Mali said during the opening ceremony at Big Fashion, according to a separate statement issued by the Belgrade city government on Thursday.
"Today we open our second shopping mall in Serbia. It is part of our long-term vision, as we wish to develop our brand on this market," the CEO of BIG Shopping Centers Ltd, Eitan Bar Zeev, said.
In January, Plaza Centers said it signed a binding agreement to sell the shopping and entertainment centre to BIG Shopping Centers Ltd for 28 million euro plus further payments which will be conditional on operational targets and milestones.
BIG Shopping Centers launched a shopping mall in Novi Sad, northern Serbia, in October 2012. The company invested 50 million euro in the shopping mall, named BIG Shopping Center, which has a retail space of 40,000 sq m.
($ = 0.934340 euro)