Redefine Properties' entry into CEE last year with its €1.5 bn investment in Echo Polska Properties (EPP) makes the South African REIT the top newcomer in PropertyEU's Deal of the Decade Awards competition.
In 2016 South African REIT Redefine Properties co-established EPP with Echo Investment, acquiring a 75% stake in the real estate investment company for €1.5 bn. At the time, EPP’s commercial platform comprised 18 office and retail properties in Poland. The deal was the largest-ever real estate investment transaction in Poland, as well as the largest-ever single transaction of income-generating real estate assets in Central and Eastern Europe.
Colliers International, REAS Residential Advisors, Weil, Gotshal & Manges BCLA Bisiorek, Dentons, Linklaters, JLL, White & Case advised the buyer, while JLL acted for the seller. The jury said that not only did the acquisition mark the largest commercial property transaction ever concluded in CEE, it was also the single largest offshore property deal by a South African company.
Redefine Properties had €3.9 bn of properties in 2016, split between its domestic market South Africa as well as Poland and the UK, through its 30% holding in London-listed Redefine International. The EPP deal was part of its strategy to take advantage of low interest rates in certain overseas markets and increased its offshore real estate assets to 25% of its total portfolio.
Griffin Real Estate, which manages Redefine Properties' assets in Poland, acted as an organiser and an advisor of the deal. Griffin was on hand to pick up the award at Banqueting House in London.
1st RUNNER-UP
In 2015 Fosun Property Holdings acquired Palazzo Broggi in Milan from Idea Fimit for €345 mln. Chiomenti advised the Chinese buyer. The transaction was the biggest of the year in Italy. The building is a historic property in the city centre and formerly housed the headquarters of UniCredit bank.
The judges said the deal was interesting because it is unusual for a Chinese investor to choose Italy for its first transaction in Europe. Fosun won over many established international investors in the complex tender process.
2ND RUNNER-UP
In 2012 a Malaysian consortium of SP Setia, Sime Darby and EPF acquired Battersea Power Station in London from administrators Ernst & Young for £400 mln. JLL, Knight Frank, Linklaters and Norton Rose acted as advisers to the buyer.
The judges said the deal represented a landmark sale of a historic site which had had multiple owners and many false starts over the last 30 years. The disposal of the 39-acre site to the Malaysian consortium also kick-started the regeneration of the Nine Elms/Vauxhall area.
