German fund manager DEGI, which bought more than 250 million euros' worth of properties in Bucharest, continues to be interested in acquisitions on the Romanian market, and owners are meeting the company halfway, given the low number of buyers of real estate properties active this year.
DEGI made one the most important acquisitions on the domestic real estate market this year when it took over Iris Shopping Center in the Titan district of Bucharest for 143 million euros, which includes the first Auchan hypermarket in the country and a shopping gallery.
"We get 20 and 30 offers of properties available for sale every month (...) Central and Eastern Europe and Romania continue to be potential investment markets for DEGI, for our DEGI International fund. We have a network of experienced partners on this market, so that we do not intend to open an office in Romania," Baerbel Schomber, CEO of DEGI, which manages approximately 6 billion euros worth of assets, told ZF.
The fund also owns three office buildings in Bucharest - Millennium Business Center, PGV Tower and Construdava, which it bought for more than 110 million euros last year.
DEGI's partners on the Romanian market include real estate consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis Eurisko, involved in both transactions conducted by the company in Romania and law firm Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii, which assisted DEGI in the takeover of Iris Shopping Center.
The Germans at DEGI are not interested in residential investments and, although they are looking at other cities, Bucharest remains the most attractive market to them.
"Generally, we can have a second look at other cities outside the capital, but considering that Bucharest ranks first in terms of demand and supply of real estate properties, it is only natural that we should concentrate on this market. In case of a potential sale or exit, this is also an important argument," DEGI's CEO said.
Although the office market remains concentrated in Bucharest, the retail segment is developing quite strongly outside it, as well, where more than 20 shopping centres have opened over the last two years.
It was precisely this development that brought new powerful players such as DEGI, AEW Europe and ING Real Estate onto this market, which are capable of conducting investments in the range of hundreds of millions of euros.
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