CB Richard Ellis advises Europa Capital on securing acquisition in Bulgaria

CB Richard Ellis, together with its affiliate company in Bulgaria – MBL, exclusively advised Europa Capital on securing the acquisition of Mall of Sofia, a prime Bulgarian shopping centre, from GE Capital and Avestus Capital Partners.

The 23,600 sq m Mall of Sofia is one of the most established shopping centres in Bulgaria, boasting a first-class line up of tenants including Piccadilly, Cinema City, Technomarket and Intersport. The retailers have been very optimistic about 2011 as the Bulgarian economic situation continues to improve and turnover figures are expected to rise.

The Mall of Sofia was completed in 2006 and also has 10,400 sq m of office accommodation. With a transaction volume in excess of 100 million Euro this will represent the largest retail investment transaction in Bulgaria since 2008. Additionally, it will be Europa Capital’s second retail investment deal in Bulgaria after the 20 million Euro acquisition of Retail Park Plovdiv in Q1 2011, when MBL | CB Richard Ellis was again the preferred advisor.

Henry Morris, Acquisitions, Europa Capital, said: “We are delighted to have secured this investment in one of the region’s strongest assets.  Mall of Sofia has an excellent trading history combined with the opportunity to improve the tenant mix and performance in the future.”

“Retail has remained high on investors’ wish lists. CEE investors are not looking beyond prime yet, and this has meant that there has been limited investment product available as a consequence. Countries in Southeastern Europe are now benefitting from this as high quality properties are priced more attractively and liquidity is therefore starting to increase.” – said Patrick O’Gorman, Director of CBRE Capital Markets CEE.

“The acquisition of Mall of Sofia is a good indicator of things to come in the region. There is good investor appetite for assets offering sustainable returns in the CEE and SEE region as investors look to secure the best assets at attractive levels.” – summarized Tim O’Sullivan, Head of Capital Markets in Hungary, who actively worked on the deal.