ATRIUM ACQUIRES GALERIA DOMINIKAŃSKA IN WROCLAW, POLAND, FOR €151.7 MILLION

Atrium European Real Estate, a leading owner, operator and developer of retail real estate and shopping centres in Central and Eastern Europe, announces the €151.7 million acquisition of the ” Galeria Dominikańska” shopping centre in Wroclaw, Poland from a JV comprising the Otto Family and Deutsche EuroShop AG.  The acquisition is in line with the Group’s aim of acquiring prime, income producing shopping centres in the major cities of Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, which have the strongest economies in the CEE region.
The acquisition will be financed using the Group’s existing cash resources.  The transaction is subject to approval by the Polish antimonopoly office and the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent, which are expected to be finalized in Q3 2013. ECE will continue to manage the shopping centre, working closely alongside Atrium’s in-house team of retail experts.
Galeria Dominikańska is a fully occupied, Grade A shopping centre which comprises approximately 32,900 sqm of gross lettable area spread over three levels and across 102 units, as well as a gym let to AM Fitness Club and approximately 1,250 sqm of office space. The shopping centre is anchored by a Carrefour supermarket and a Media Markt and houses a wide range of international and domestic retail brands including Van Graaf, Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Benetton, Douglas, Sephora, Mango, Max Mara, New Yorker and Reserved, together with a strong food and hospitality offering. Average duration of all lease contracts is over 6 years.  In addition, the centre includes over 900 parking spaces.
Opened in 2001, Galeria Dominikańska is the leading shopping centre in Wroclaw, Poland’s fourth largest city and capital of the Silesia region, which has a population of some 630,000 inhabitants.  It is situated in a prime location at the heart of the city, right next to the historic Old Town, and on the inner city ringroad.  It is serviced by nine tram and five bus routes with stops outside the center and has a wider catchment area of some 1 million potential consumers, of which c580,000 live within 15 minutes travel time.
Commenting on the acquisition, Rachel Lavine, CEO of Atrium said: “Galeria Dominikańska is an important acquisition for us, being a large, well-established and dominant shopping centre which is in a prime location in one of the major cities of Poland, our most important market.  ECE is one of Europe’s preeminent managers and developers of shopping centres and we look forward to working with them in managing this centre.
“The transaction allows us to start putting the proceeds of our recent Eurobond placement to effective use while increasing Atrium’s weighting to Poland, the CEE’s largest economy, to over 50%, and taking its exposure to A- rated or above countries to above 75%.”
Source : Company