Popovici Nitu Stoica & Asociatii has advised Romanian DYI retailer Dedeman, on its acquisition of the AFI Park 1-3 office buildings in Bucharest from AFI, with an additional option to buy AFI Park 4 & 5. Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen and solo practitioner Bianca Stamatoiu advised AFI.
The whole office complex, which spans 70,000 square meters, has a price tag of around EUR 164 million. This transaction marks the first exit of AFI developer from one of its projects in Romania.
At the end of 2016, Dedeman had 45 stores, over 9,200 employees, and a turnover close to EUR 1.2 billion. In Bucharest, the retailer has four stores, with another one set to open this summer.
“We have concluded that this acquisition is the most robust and confident step that we can take today in the field of commercial real estate, a sector that we want to invest in," said Dragos Paval, CEO of Dedeman, in a statement released by the company. "Furthermore, we believe that this investment will solidify our group and our core business of DIY retail together with the trust of our existing and future business partners."
Real estate consultancy firm Colliers International worked with AFI on the sale. Robert Miklo, Associate Director at Colliers International, said the deal “can become not only the largest pure office deal in the history of the local investment market, [but also] one of the largest in the Central and Eastern European region.”
The Popovivi Nitu Stoica & Asociatii team was led by Partner Valentin Creata and included Associates Ela Marin, Raluca Petrescu, Andreea Grosu, Codrin Luta, Dana Casandra, Lavinia Dinoci, Catinca Turenici, Alexandru Stan, Raluca Rusu, Ana Maria Nacea, Geanina Popescu, and Luiza Zamura.
The NNDKP team was led by Partner Vlad Tanase, assisted by Senior Associate Ioana Grigoriu.
Image Source: afi-europe.eu
