Globalworth busy buying as CPI buys its shares

This latest share purchase by the Czech company of 3.68 mln shares follows a series of others over a few days beginning towards the end of January with the acquisition of 13.39 mln shares (a 6 pct stake) on the open market, shortly followed by the purchase of Zakiono Enterprises from Globalworth’s owner Ioannis Papalekas. These have seen CPI’s holding increase to just under the 30 pct threshold for triggering a mandatory takeover bid. CPI, however, has declared in a press statement that is has no desire to buy more Globalworth shares for the moment, but that the reason for its investment in Globalworth is that it has one of the best office portfolios in Poland and Romania, that it is an investor of “high strategic merit” and “brings to CPIPG the kind of enhancements in scale, sector exposure and rental income that our key credit-focused stakeholders should view favourably.”

Globalworth gets wallet out too

In December Globalworth finalised its purchase of Podium Park in Kraków for app. EUR 134 mln. This was its fifth acquisition of the year. Podium Park will eventually be a complex of three, eleven-storey buildings with a total leasable area of over 55,000 sqm. The development has been awarded BREEAM with a rating of ‘Outstanding’. The first building was delivered in 2018 and the two remaining buildings are both under construction with one to be delivered in Q4 2020 and the other in Q4 2021. UK-based fintech company Revolut has leased 5,300 sqm in the first building and IT company Ailleron is to take up almost 9,000 sqm in the second. “The addition of Podium Park to our portfolio is another example of us acquiring an attractive, state-of-the-art project under construction and us maintaining close relations with developers. In 2019, we bought or secured with preliminary agreements five office projects, which on completion of construction should be worth around EUR 590 mln,” commented Łukasz Duczkowski, the head of investment at Globalworth in Poland.

Last year Globalworth also began construction work on Constanța Business Park, which is to be the largest mixed-use park in Romania. It is being developed on a 100 ha plot and will include industrial, logistics, production and service space, as well as office buildings and an intermodal hub. “We chose to develop this project in Constanța because we can offer future tenants a number of unique advantages as a result of its strategic location. Constanța benefits, above all, from the best infrastructure in Romania, with easy road and rail access, as well as access to maritime and river routes. For this reason, Constanța Business Park will become the best location for developing supply chain operations,” said Mihai Zaharia, the director of investment and capital markets at Globalworth. Constanța Business Park is being built in a number of stages, but should be completed by 2024. Eventually the park will include a leasable area of 550,000 sqm. A logistics hall with 21,000 sqm gla is being developed in the first stage as well as the access roads for the site and is to be completed in Q2 this year. The project is being developed in partnership with Global Vision and a number of pre-leases have already been signed.

Yet more purchases

Globalworth has also become the sole owner of the Renault Bucharest Connected building after buying a 50 pct stake from Elgan Group. The BREEAM certified centre includes 58,000 sqm of office space including an 8,000 sqm design centre. “We have become the sole shareholder of the Renault Bucharest Connected development. The building has been designed to meet the highest standards of efficiency, comfort and sustainability, as required by such a partner as Renault,” commented Mihai Zaharia. The company now owns an overall real estate portfolio worth around EUR 2.5 bln.

CPI Property Group was also busy at the end of last year, completing the purchase of the Equator II office building in Warsaw, completed at the end of January. This is the fifth office property in the city acquired by CPI since announcing its investment strategy in October 2019. The property, which was built on Al. Jerozolimskie in 2011, was sold by Karimpol Polska and comprises 23,100 sqm of office space over 14 storeys. Currently it is 99 pct leased. “The purchase of the Equator II office building has strengthened our ownership position on the Al. Jerozolimskie corridor, following on from the acquisition of the Eurocentrum Office Complex and Equator IV. By concentrating our assets in one place, we will create a strong, uniform structure for our property management and develop their synergies,” explained Barbara Topolska, the country manager for CPI in Poland. CPI hopes to announce further acquisitions for its EUR 800 mln investment programme soon.