Atrium completes sale of retail portfolio to Peakside Capital – EuropaProperty

Atrium European Real Estate Limited, a leading owner, operator and developer of shopping centres and retail real estate in Central and Eastern Europe, has announced that, further to its announcement on 9 December 2014, it has completed the sale of a portfolio of 72 retail assets in the Czech Republic. The portfolio is sold to a private client account managed by Peakside Capital Advisors for a consideration of c.€68.5 million. The consideration comprises a cash payment of c.€59.5 million with the balance satisfied through a secured vendor loan to the purchaser.

The portfolio consists of 72 retail assets located throughout the Czech Republic with a total lettable area of c.177,000 sqm and primarily comprises smaller format retail properties with an average size of c.2,500 sqm. The divestment of the assets forms part of the company’s on-going rebalancing of its portfolio, focusing on Atrium’s core markets and larger scale, well-established shopping centres which dominate their catchment areas.

Following the acquisition of the prime shopping centre AFI Palác in Pardubice in November last year, the company’s Czech portfolio now comprises 22 properties, accounting for 15.9 percent of Atrium’s total portfolio by value, compared to 93 properties or 16.4 percent of the portfolio as at 30 September 2014.

Commenting on the sale, Josip Kardun, CEO of Atrium Group, said: “Following the two acquisitions we completed in November last year, the closing of the sale of this portfolio marks a major milestone in our strategy of realigning our portfolio towards well-established, dominant shopping centres and reweighting our income stream away from a significant number of smaller assets towards higher quality cash flow.”