NEPI Rockcastle plans to acquire Silesia City Center in Katowice, Poland, for €495 million (R9.44 billion), the JSE and Amsterdam-listed owner of shopping centres in central and Eastern Europe said on Friday.
The group, with properties in Romania, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic and Lithuania, announced on Friday that it had signed an agreement to acquire HELIOS SCC, which owns Silesia City Center, from Allianz Finance VII Luxembourg, which owns 45% of HELIOS, Kamsa Luxco (45%) and Cura Beteiligungsgesellschaft International (10%).
“We are grateful for the confidence NEPI Rockcastle’s investors have placed in our company during the recent equity raise as we continue to deliver on our strategy with the acquisition of Silesia City Center,” said Nepi Rockcastle’s CEO Rudiger Dany in a statement.
NEPI Rockcastle also signed an agreement to acquire Elco Energy and Elco ICT from ECE Projektmanagement Polska. These companies provide communication infrastructure and energy services for the tenants of the property.
Silesia City Center is a shopping centre in Katowice, in Silesia Province of southern Poland, comprising 88 400 square metres gross lettable area.
NEPI Rockcastle’s directors said the city was one of the strongest in Poland economically, with an average spending power exceeding the national average per capita by 35%.
“The Katowice conurbation, consisting of 22 adjacent population centres, is one of Europe's most industrialized and urbanized areas,” they said.
“While heavy industry continues to be a significant pillar of the region's economy, Katowice has evolved into a dynamic business services hub, characterized by an expanding presence in sectors including professional outsourcing, innovation-driven research and advanced technology.”
The acquisition follows the purchase of Magnolia Park in Wroclaw in southwest Poland in September. It advances NEPI Rockcastle's strategy to strengthen its portfolio by focusing on countries with an investment-grade rating and prioritising core, income-producing dominant properties.
Silesia City Center had an occupancy rate of 98.4% as of November 2024, including anchor tenants such as Cinema City, Half Price, H&M, Kaufland, Media Markt, Primark, Reserved, TK Maxx and Zara.
“This high-quality shopping centre has a commanding market position in Katowice, one of Poland’s largest and wealthiest cities, and we look forward to bringing our asset management expertise to bear in the execution of long-term value growth initiatives in this latest investment,” Dany said.
The purchase price would be funded from NEPI Rockcastle’s existing cash resources, primarily derived from the equity raise completed in October 2024.
NEPI Rockcastle projected a net operating income of €30.3m for the acquisition for the financial year to December 31, 2024, while the net operating income anticipated after the integration of the property into the NEPI Rockcastle group and implementing asset management initiatives was expected to stabilise at €32m.
NEPI Rockcastle said “that the Target registered a statutory loss of PLN 57 683 thousand (R256.8m) for the year ended 31 December 2023.”
In October 2024, NEPI Rockcastle had raised €300m through an issue of new shares. NEPI Rockcastle’s share price gained 0.9% to R141.39 on Friday, bringing the price a healthy 21% higher over 12 months.
BUSINESS REPORT