Kinstellar Hungary has advised a syndicate of banks consisting of Erste Group Bank AG, Erste Bank Hungary Zrt., K&H Bank Zrt., UniCredit Bank Hungary Zrt. and UniCredit SpA – led by Erste – in connection with a EUR 335 million credit facility to Granit Polus for refinancing existing loans and providing a capex credit line for the WestEnd City Center shopping mall in Budapest. EY Law advised the borrowers on the deal.
According to Kinstellar, WestEnd City Center, which opened in November 1999 and was built by Hungary's TriGranit, "is one of Hungary’s best performing and most popular shopping centers. WestEnd’s multi-function building extends across a 47,000 square meter retail area and consists of a 16,000 square meter 'A' category office complex, a 22,300 square meter rooftop garden, and the five-star WestEnd Hilton Budapest City hotel." According to the firm, "this loan agreement, a landmark deal in the Hungarian real estate market, is evidence that lenders are ready to provide financing for propitious development projects."
Kinstellar Managing Partner Csilla Andreko, who led her firm's team on the deal, explained that: “Having previously worked on the original financing and subsequent refinancing of the WestEnd City Center, we are delighted to have been able to again advise a syndicate of top-tier banks in connection with one of the most significant real estate finance transactions in the Hungarian market in 2017 so far. The project has been extremely challenging, given the tight deadlines and participation of five major banks of different nationalities. The successful completion of the transaction is another accolade for Kinstellar, which is becoming the number one legal advisor in Hungary for complex, cross-border financing of commercial real estate.”
In addition to Andreko, the Kinstellar team was made up of Partner Kvetoslav Krejci and Senior Associates Mate Nagy, Zsuzsa Andreko, Marcell Horvath, and Barnabas Sagi.
The EY Law team consisted of Managing Partner Ivan Sefer and Managing Associate Walid Frolic.
Image Source: westend.hu
