CTP and a consortium of three banking groups agreed on underwriting package of €1.9 billion for CTP’s Czech industrial portfolio, comprised of 200 buildings, covering 2.7 million sqm of premium industrial spaces. In the largest real estate transaction to date in Central and Eastern Europe, the 7-year loans provide for the refinancing of €1.6 billion of existing properties and extends €269 million in new financing for projects to be completed in the next 18 months.
“We are pleased to confirm our continued cooperation and deepened relationships with our core banking partners in concluding this milestone syndicated loan transaction. This deal secures our financing in the Czech Republic for the mid-term and will help us significantly in achieving our next goal of growing to 10 million sqm,” said Remon Vos, CTP Group CEO.
The transaction consolidates 40 existing loan agreements into one syndicated loan. “The new loan structure significantly simplifies our previous financing arrangements, making us fitter for the future We can streamline loan administration and processing and benefit from secure funding of our industrial portfolio over the mid-term, in addition to development financing for the next 18 months,” commented Zdeněk Raus, CTP CFO for the Czech Republic.
“The transaction volume of €1.9 billion makes the deal the largest ever real estate transaction in Central and Eastern Europe, not only the Czech Republic. All stakeholders—especially our tenants—benefit from the stable and secure funding resulting from this transaction, allowing them to focus on their core business and for CTP to continue to provide market-leading services. The strong long-term relationships we have with our banks proven by this deal provide the basis for further cooperation with respect to our CEE portfolio, which now stands at over 5 million sqm,” said Richard Wilkinson, Group CFO.
“This deal sets a new benchmark for real estate financing in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of size and complexity. It underscores the leading position of Central Erste Group in the Central Europe region and Česká spořitelna in the Czech Republic. This was a deal that continues our excellent and our long-term relationship with CTP,” commented Patrick Zehetmayr, Head of Real Estate Financing at Erste Group.
“We are very pleased to have been able to support CTP in this historic deal that once again shows our ability to assist our clients with ground-breaking financial structures,” released Matteo Pietropoli, Head of CEE Financing at UniCredit and Slavomir Beňa, Head of CIB in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at UniCredit in a joint statement.
“This deal proves again the commitment of Société Générale to the Central Europe region and Komerční Banka to the Czech Republic and underlines the ability of our group to support innovative and creative solutions meeting our clients’ needs. The size and complexity of this deal provided unique challenges, which we are proud to have solved. This deal sets a new standard for financing in Central and Eastern Europe and we are very happy to have supported CTP,” said Jean-Pierre Cherbit, from Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking and David Formánek member of the board of Komerční banka.
The legal side of the transaction was led on behalf of CTP by M&A and transactional lawyer, Květa Vojtová, with support from the local CTP banking and corporate team.
