As a result of large portfolio transactions, the first quarter of 2018 on the Polish real estate investment market closed with a record investment volume of €2.05 bn, according to Savills. The biggest deal last quarter was the acquisition of a €1bn retail portfolio that included M1, Auchan, Power Park and Praktiker centres by Chariot Top Group (whose funds are PIMCO, Oaktree and Redefine). This was followed by the resale of part of that portfolio, four M1 shopping centers, to EPP, for €357.7m.
“In recent months the amount of time required to finalise transactions has significantly increased, mainly due to legal and tax reasons,” said Tomasz Buras, Managing Director in Savills. “As a result, many transactions have been closed later than planned and thus, instead of an even more spectacular result in 2017, we have a record Q1’18. The first quarter of the year closed under the sign of retail transactions, which is no doubt a continuation of complex processes that started last year. Currently, we observe more activity in the office and industrial sectors and those are the sectors where we expect the highest number of transactions in the nearest months with regard to both regional cities and Warsaw.”
