Austrian investment funds currently have an available capital of more than 300 million euros waiting to be invested in the Romanian real estate market.
Immofinanz, the largest real estate investment fund in Austria, and Europolis, which has properties estimated at over 1.2 billion euros, this year kick-started a fierce battle for real estate projects.
Starting this autumn, Immorent, which belongs to Austrian Erste Bank, directly entered the market by opening a local office in Bucharest.
Real estate deals are already thought of as the new "star" in the Romanian business environment, with the real giants of the industry coming from behind the wave of Austrian investors. Major US and Irish investors are willing to invest in Romania in projects worth more than 50 million euros.
"The first year following the acquisition of the Europe House office building was a positive experience for us. This is why we decided to continue focusing on Bucharest," said Wolfgang Lunardon, a representative of the Europolis group in relations with Romania. After acquiring Cefin Logistic Park project earlier this year, the Austrian group says it will raise its stakes on the Romanian market, with the value of its investments set to exceed 100 million euros.
"In the medium term, we will also open an office in Romania," adds Alexander Bosak, marketing manager with Europolis.
Europolis investment fund, which is owned by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Investkredit AG bank, was recently granted a 300m-euro loan by EBRD to expand into Central and Eastern Europe.
Europolis entered the Romanian market in 2003 following acquisition of the Europe House office building for about 30 million euros.
Immofinanz, with a stock market capitalisation of around 1.7 billion euros, also entered Romania in the same way this year through the acquisition of Iride Business Park. Immofinanz, which operates in the region through its Immoeast unit, has earmarked funds of over 200 million euros for real estate deals in Romania and has several projects in mind, according to market sources.
Immofinanz officials were contacted by Ziarul Financiar but declined to comment by the time of going to press.
Another Austrian investor that entered the Romanian market this autumn is Immorent, which in early November announced the opening of a local office in Bucharest.
Immorent, a company specialised in the development of real estate projects, is owned by the Austrian Erste Bank banking group and includes in its portfolio properties exceeding 1 billion euros.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro ; adrian.mirsanu@zf.ro
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