Boyanov & Co. has advised UK Hystead Limited on its EUR 156 million acquisition of The Mall — the second biggest shopping center in Bulgaria. In particular, UK Hystead Limited acquires 100% of Bulgarian company AP Retail I Limited from Cypros Fortone Holdings Limited, which is ultimately owned by Greece's Assos Capital (85%) and Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs (a combined 15%). Dinova Rusev & Partners Law Office advised the sellers on the deal.
UK Hystead Limited is a subsidiary of South African Hyprop Investments Limited (60%) and PDI Investment Holdings Limited (40%), and the purchase represents Hyprop Investments Limited's first investment in the European Union.
The deal does not include the hypermarket in the shopping center which is owned by UniCredit Bulbank. A second deal for the hypermarket was secured for a price of around EUR 20 million. Upon completion of that deal the shopping center will increase its leasable area to above 66,000 square meters. According to Boyanov & Co., management reports that 99.7% of the current leasable area is leased and that "there is a huge interest of tenants for the lease of the new 14,000 square meters to be further developed."
The Boyanov & Co. team advising UK Hystead Limited was led by M&A Partner Yordan Naydenov and by Real Estate Partner Nickolay Nickolov.
Image Source: bulgarianproperties.com
