DLA Piper Poland, Oppenheim, and PRK Partners have advised Metro Properties on the more-than-EUR 250 million sale and lease-back of 11 Cash & Carry stores in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to FLE GmbH, an Austrian subsidiary of French LFPI Group, investing on behalf of the AIF regulated fund. Allen & Overy, Novalia, and DLA Piper Hungary advised FLE on the transaction, which was finalized in August 2019.
The properties include five Makro Cash & Carry stores in Poland (in Warsaw, Wroclaw, Krakow, and Lublin), three Metro Cash & Carry properties in Hungary (all in Budapest), and three Makro Cash & Carry markets in the Czech Republic (all in Prague). Metro Properties retains the ownership of several adjacent plots in Poland and the Czech Republic to develop mixed-use projects.
Metro is an international wholesale company with food and non-food assortments that specializes in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants, and caterers as well as independent traders. Metro Properties is the real estate company of Metro AG, an international wholesale and food expert, that operates in 36 countries and employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. The company, which is headquartered in Germany, also has operations in Poland and Turkey.
FLE GmbH, based in Vienna, is a subsidiary of LFPI group, an international multi-asset manager. The real estate funds managed by LFPI group are owners of more than 250 real estate properties with an estimated net value of approximately EUR 3 billion.
The PRK Partners team included Partner Roman Pecenka and Associate Milan Sivy.
The DLA Piper Poland-based team included Partner Jacek Gizinski, Counsel Pawel Chodzinski, Associates Miroslaw Calka and Karolina Madrzycka, and Junior Associate Karolina Kordulska.
The Allen & Overy team included Partner Michal Matera, Senior Associates Piotr Przybylski and Anna Madra, and Associates Krystyna Fatyga and Maciej Wroniak.
Editor's note: After this article was published Novalia informed CEE Legal Matters that its team included Partners Pavel Marc, Kamil Stanek, and Marketa Kucerova Pechova.
