August 28 (SeeNews) - Property investment and development group NEPI Rockcastle said on Friday it has completed the sale of its Romanian office portfolio to Dutch-registered real estate developer AFI Europe for a 294 million euro ($350 million) cash price.
The disposal was successfully concluded on August 27 in accordance with the terms of the new agreement, NEPI said in a press release.
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The group’s liquidity is now estimated at 1.2 billion euro and the loan-to-value ratio (LTV) has decreased to 33%, further outlining commitment to its prudent financial strategy, NEPI added.
On August 7, NEPI announced that it has received a 15 million euro cash advance from AFI Europe as guarantee for finalizing the deal. NEPI also said that the takeover of the office portfolio by AFI is scheduled to be completed by December this year, with the completion date to be set by the purchaser.
The portfolio consists of four Class A office projects: Floreasca Business Park, The Lakeview, Aviatorilor 8 and Timisoara City Business Center. The four projects comprise eight office buildings in Bucharest and Timisoara with a total gross lettable area of 118,500 sq m.
AFI Europe announced the purchase on August 6, adding that after the transaction and the completion of ongoing office developments, it will have close to 300,000 sq m GLA office spaces under management, becoming one of the largest office owners in Romania.
In July, NEPI Rockcastle said that it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with AFI Europe which allows it to resume negotiations for the disposal of its Romanian office property portfolio. In April, NEPI Rockcastle announced that the disposal of its Romanian office property portfolio was not completed as the buyer - AFI Europe - had failed to fulfil some procedures, leading to a breach in the initial agreement signed several months earlier.
AFI Europe, a subsidiary of AFI Properties, is a real estate development, management and investment companies operating in Central and Eastern Europe since 1997. In Romania, AFI Europe operates since 2005.
On the office segment, AFI Europe Romania is the developer and owner of AFI Park 1-5 and AFI Tech Park, both located in Bucharest, and AFI Park Brasov, in the center of Brasov which will be inaugurated this autumn.
NEPI Rockcastle is a property investment and development group incorporated in the Isle of Man which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam. The company is focused on acquiring, developing and managing retail assets in Central and Eastern Europe. Its property portfolio is focused in Romania, Poland and Slovakia. The group has strong presence in Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Lithuania.
($=0.8406 euro)