A fund established by the real estate investment manager Meyer Bergman sold the Forum Ústí nad Labem shopping center in the Czech Republic to New Europe Property Investments (NEPI) for €82.6m. In partnership with Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), Meyer Bergman European Retail Partners (MBERP) acquired the 27,800 sqm shopping center in a portfolio that also included Forum Nová Karolina in Ostrava in 2011. UniCredit provided debt financing. Meyer Bergman’s head of asset management, Mark Gamble, says that since acquiring the asset, the investor has improved both the position of the shopping center in Northern Bohemia and increased its cash-flow performance. “This has enabled us to bring in 30 new brands, many of them international, as we carried out the first wave of lease renewals,” he said. Cushman & Wakefield advised Meyer Bergman on the sale.
