Charter Hall Retail, an Australian real estate investment fund, has entered into a conditional contract for the sale of its five Polish retail assets. The list also includes the “Dąbrówka” shopping mall.
A subsidiary of Charter Hall Group, Charter Hall Retail is selling the assets for EUR 174 million to Tristan Capital Partners, at a 4,6% reduction in the book value when compared to six months ago. A settlement is expected by the end of September, pending the buyer’s loan approval. Savills advises on the sale.
All the five shopping centers are anchored by hypermarkets owned separately by Carrefour, although these are not part of the transaction. The “Dąbrówka” shopping mall as well as “Arena” in Gliwice, “Borek” in Wrocław, “Turzyn” w Szczecin and “Zakopianka” in Kraków were purchased by Charter Hall for EUR 232 million in 2007.
The company is selling the Polish properties and is exiting Europe to refocus on its core domestic market in Australia.
“Dąbrówka” is located at 200 Roździeńskiego Av. in the north-east part of Katowice. The mall was opened in 1999 and covers 2 762 sq. meters. There are approximately 800 car park spaces and 22 shops. Among key anchors are: RTV Euro AGD, CCC, Koodza, W. Kruk and Vision Express. Hypermarkets of Carrefour and Castorama also border upon the mall.
Daniel Harris, MD of Investments at Tristan Capital said: “We like the relative strength of the Polish economy, and believe these are good retail assets that will be enhanced through further investment.”
The transaction is the second in Poland for Tristan since November 2012, when it closed the EUR 210 million acquisition of Warsaw Financial Center in a joint venture with Allianz.