SOFIA (Bulgaria), December 1 (SeeNews) – Bulgarian-registered NEPI Project two, a subsidiary of real estate investment trust (REIT) New Europe Property Investments Rockcastle (NEPI Rockcastle), has received a regulatory approval to acquire Bulfeld, owner of Paradise Center mall in Sofia, the competition regulator said.
Although NEPI Rockcastle’s other Bulgarian subsidiary - NEPI Project one, operates on the same market as Sofia-registered Bulfeld, the acquisition would not affect competition as it would not lead to the establishing of a dominant position, the Commission for Protection of Competition said in a statement on Thursday.
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NEPI Rockcastle said in September it has reached an agreement to acquire Bulfeld for 252.9 million euro ($301.2 million).
Opened in 2013, Paradise Center offers a gross lettable area of 82,000 sq m, making it the largest retail centre in Sofia.
Paradise Center has an annual footfall of over 10 million visitors.
The mall is let to major national and international tenants such as Bershka, Cinema City, Forever 21, H&M, LC Waikiki, Massimo Dutti, New Yorker, Pull & Bear, Reserved, Sephora, Sport Vision, Sofia Event Center, Stradivarius, Technopolis and Zara.
In August, the competition authority granted approval to NEPI to acquire Serdika Center shopping mall in Sofia, Serdika Office building and the land, on which the properties are built, for a total price of 207.4 million euro. The acquisition was carried out through NEPI Project one.