GalCap Europe acquires historic Budapest building – EuropaProperty

Vienna-based investment manager GalCap Europe has acquired Merkúr Palota (the Mercure Palace), a fully renovated office building in Budapest. The seller is a private investor; both parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

The purchase was made on behalf of a separate account, administrated by Institutional Investment Partners, for a German pension scheme. The property is centrally located in the 6th district of the Hungarian capital. It comprises around 8,000 sqm of lettable space and has been recently refurbished. The building serves as the European headquarters of Prezi.com, a Hungarian internet start-up. The ground floor features a restaurant, and the penthouse levels feature 8 apartments, all with terraces.

GalCap Europe was founded in 2015 and has since established itself as a specialized investment and asset manager for the Austria & CEE region. In addition to pension funds and insurance companies from the German-speaking countries, clients include American and UK-based private equity funds, for which GalCap Europe acts as local partner in the region.

“The property markets in CEE, in particular Budapest, still offer strong purchasing opportunities and attractive risk / return profiles. We have a number of deals in the pipeline for our clients and will further increase the activities in Central & Eastern Europe,” noted Marco Kohla, Managing Partner of GalCap Europe.

The purchase of Merkur Palota was brokered by CBRE. The buyer’s legal advice was provided by CHSH Dezső & Partner.