Catella establishes operations in Poland through the majority acquisition of WPP

Catella has agreed to acquire 65 percent of Warsaw Property Partners (“WPP”) for a price of approximately SEK 40 million. The company is an independent real estate investment, asset, and development management company, operating exclusively in the Polish market with a broad offering to support the investment strategies of clients. WPP has assets under management (“AUM”) of nearly SEK 2 billion and 18 employees.

Christian Fojtl, Jacek Wachowicz, and Bartosz Bzoma, Managing Directors, will remain shareholders in WPP and have committed to the company for at least another five years. WPP will continue to be run by its current management team to further pursue its successful growth strategy in Poland. Furthermore, becoming a part of Catella will generate significant synergies for the Group as an asset and investment manager for existing and future Property Fund Investments, as well as development opportunities for Principal Investments.

“We are delighted to have agreed to enter a partnership with the Managing Directors of WPP and we look forward to continuing to develop WPP together with its partners and employees. Poland is a key strategic market for us, where we see potential property development opportunities and significant investment management synergies across the Group. With the acquisition of WPP, we get a highly skilled team with a strong track record and an exceptional knowledge of Polish real estate market, who now will have a much-increased ability to grow with Catella’s capital supporting their ambitious plans. The acquisition ties into Catella’s growth strategy through partly owned companies alongside local partners, which ensures commitment by local management and financial incentives that are aligned with Catella’s overall goals,” said Christoffer Abramson, President and CEO at Catella.

“We are excited about becoming a part of the Catella Group. Today, WPP is an agile, well-established real estate company serving the Polish market. By joining Catella we can add additional value and growth through Catella’s pan-European real estate infrastructure. We are confident that the combination will be successful and result in strong asset management and development capabilities ready to serve both local, Catella internal and international clients,” said Jacek Wachowicz, CEO of WPP.

The transaction is expected to be completed during the second quarter of 2022.