Immofinanz Group, the Vienna-listed central and eastern Europe-focused property investor and developer, has won the Russian antitrust authorities’ approval to buy the remaining 50% of the Golden Babylon Rostokino shopping centre in Moscow that it doesn’t already own.
The agreement on the acquisition from the co-owner Patero was signed in March, and the parties have agreed not to disclose any information on the purchase price.
Last month the company and Russia’s Sberbank concluded a long-term financing agreement for $715m (€590m). Immofinanz is using the 10-year loan mainly to repay development financing provided by the parent company for the Golden Babylon Rostokino project.
“The funds released by this loan will be used to continue our growth and to realise new development projects, especially in the eastern European markets, where double-digit yields can be generated,” said Eduard Zehetner, group board chairman.
Golden Babylon Rostokino center in Moscow was developed with local firm Patero and opened in November 2009.
The shopping centre, located in the Moscow district of Sviblovo offers 168,000 m2 of rentable space and 241,000 m2 of total space, and is one of the largest shopping schemes in continental Europe. It has over 500 shops on two floors, plus 7,500 parking spaces.
Tenants include local and international chains, including Media Markt, H&M, Zara, Zara Home, Bershka, Castorama, Finnish department store Stockmann and the Russian food hypermarket O’key; the complex includes a 14-screen cinema and restaurants and is 95% occupied.
