M Core buys retail parks in Romania for 219 mln euro

M Core’s Romanian portfolio acquisition covers 132,000 sq m located in 24 cities, from the western city of Arad to Iasi in the east, as well as the country’s capital, Bucharest, deal advisor iO Partners said in a press release.

“Recognising the strategic significance of Romania, as a territory boasting promising macro tailwinds and robust investment opportunities, this move marks a pivotal moment for our collective,” Sebastian MacDonald-Hall, M Core CIO for Europe and co-CEO of the company’s Romanian unit, said.

The 25 retail centres feature a varied mix of tenants, including large brands such as Deichman, Pepco, KFC, Lidl and H&M.

The acquisition is the largest single-country real estate transaction in 2023 in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), according to Andrei Vacaru, CEE Head of Capital Markets at iO Partners.

Headquartered in the UK, M Core is a network of property investment and management companies comprising LCP, Proudreed, Sheet Anchor and Evolve Estates. M Core has operations in the UK, France, Poland, Romania, Germany and Iberia.

Vienna-headquartered iO Partners is a provider of full-suite real estate services for the Czech, Hungarian, Romanian and Slovakian markets. The consultancy acted as a deal advisor for M Core.

Mitiska REIM is a real estate investment fund manager and advisor that is exclusively focused on convenience real estate in Europe, targeting retail parks, urban logistics and multi-let light industrial projects.

($=0.9288 euro)