MAS Real Estate strengthens its presence in Central and Eastern Europe

The European real estate company is focused on growing its presence in Central and Eastern Europe.

MAS Real Estate has sold a retail property in Germany as it continues to exit Western European assets to strengthen its presence in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), where it sees better growth prospects.

The European real estate company sold the property in Bruchsal to Neo Retail Investment 1, a special purpose investment vehicle, for €24.8 million (R442 million). The net proceeds after tax, transaction costs and early repayment penalties are about €10.9 million

The transaction is a result, and consistent with the objectives, of this strategy,” MAS said. “The proceeds of the transaction after taxes and mandatory settlements of senior debt facilities, will be redeployed in line with the above strategy.”
At the end of August, MAS said plans to sell the remainder of its property investments in Western Europe had been hampered by Covid-19 uncertainty. While the disposals remained a strategic priority, purchasers had adopted a wait-and-see approach during lockdown and some deals fell through. In July, it sold its Zurich warehouse for 38.5 million Swiss francs, which was expected to result in a net cash inflow of €19 million. It aimed to dispose of €311 million of additional property by the end of the year, with more sales to follow over the following two years.

Its shares rose 2.3% to R12.54 on Thursday. The announcement was made after the close of trade.

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