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The sale of the real estate of 11 Cash & Carry stores in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic by METRO PROPERTIES

CATEGORY
Investment Deal of the Year, CEE
The total portfolio of 11 established properties comprises 5 MAKRO Cash & Carry stores in Poland (Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow and Lublin), 3 METRO Cash & Carry properties in Hungary (Budapest) and 3 MAKRO Cash & Carry markets in Czech Republic (Prague). The total GLA area of the portfolio is 195,000 m2. The stores in Poland are best performing stores in the country and are located in Aleje Jerozolimskie and in Ząbki (Warsaw), Kobierzyce (Wrocław), Jasnogórska (Kraków) and Chemiczna (Lublin). The stores in Poland have been successfully trading since 1994 and employ 4,800 employees. The stores in Hungary are located in Budaörs, Kelet-Pest and Ferencváros in Budapest and are also most prominent stores in the country. They have been trading since 1994 and employ 2,500 employees. The stores in Czech Republic are in Čestlice, Černý Most and Stodůlky in Prague. They have been trading since 1997 and employ 3,440 employees.
Name of the deal
The sale of the real estate of 11 Cash & Carry stores in Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic by METRO PROPERTIES
The date of closing the deal
August 2019
Value of the transaction (in EUR)
Over €250 million
Yield
n/a
Seller, plus brief information about the company
METRO PROPERTIES is the real estate company of METRO AG, a leading international wholesale and food expert, operating in 36 countries and employing more than 150,000 people worldwide. The real estate company combines comprehensive wholesale and retail competence, highly developed real estate expertise and implementation capability. METRO PROPERTIES collaborates with local communities, business partners and selected investors to develop innovative and sustainable wholesale, retail and mixed-use concepts. On both the national and international level, METRO PROPERTIES pursues active and value enhancing asset management. Business partners and customers receive competent support worldwide. Apart from its headquarters in Germany, the company has operations in Poland and Turkey. In other countries, the company is represented by regional management and the METRO team.
Consultancy which advised Seller
For the Polish transaction, METRO PROPERTIES was advised by DLA Piper Giziński Kycia sp.k. (legal services) and Colliers Poland (broker services). In Hungary, the advisory services of Oppenheim (legal services) and Colliers Hungary (broker services) were engaged. For the Czech Republic, METRO PROPERTIES was advised by PRK Partners (legal), PwC (financial) and Colliers Czech Republic (broker services).
Purchaser, plus brief information about the company
FLE GmbH has acquired the properties of 11 Cash & Carry markets on behalf of FLE SICAV FIS, a real estate fund headquartered in Luxembourg, owning a commercial real estate portfolio in Europe and the US with a value reaching 2.5 billion Euro. FLE GmbH is based in Vienna and part of the French LFPI group. LFPI is an independent international multi asset manager with almost five billion Euro of equity under management in private equity, real estate, debt and other fields of asset management. The real estate funds managed by LFPI group are owners of more than 250 real properties with an estimated net value of approximately three billion Euro. FLE GmbH is investment advisor of several real estate funds. These funds target office and retail assets as well as low budget hotels with purchase prices ranging from five million to fifty million Euro per asset in Germany, Austria, and CEE.
Consultancy which advised Purchaser
Legal services for the purchaser were rendered by Allen & Overy in Poland, Novalia in the Czech Republic and DLA Piper in Hungary.
Financing institution
Erste
Current occupancy level
100%
Please say why this deal should be considered for the award
The sale of the real estate of 11 Cash & Carry stores by METRO PROPERTIES represents the largest transaction in Central Europe to date for 2019 and one of largest sale and leaseback transactions in Europe. Colliers used their global platform to generate a significant amount of demand with bidders from 10 countries and 3 continents. This shows the strength of the Metro/Makro brand and also the CEE region.