Dentons has advised Echo Polska Properties N.V. on its EUR 692.1 million acquisition of the M1 portfolio of 12 retail properties. The seller is the Chariot Top Group consortium co-managed by Griffin Real Estate through its subsidiaries, and reportedly was advised by Linklaters.
EPP is a Dutch dual-listed real estate investment company that follows the REIT formula, investing in retail properties throughout Poland. The portfolio acquired from Chariot Top Group consists of 12 retail properties with over 620 stores and a total gross lettable area of 446,500 square meters. All assets are single-level, fully-leased, and situated on large sites facing motorways. The entire portfolio is subject to a master lease from Metro AG which expires in April 2024.
The transaction will be closed in three tranches with the last one closing in mid-2020. Upon completion, EPP’s portfolio will double its size to cover nearly one million square meters of GLA in at least 27 modern shopping centers.
The team of Dentons was led by Partner Pawel Debowski, supported by Partner Bartlomiej Kordeczka and Senior Associate Jacek Jezierski.
Editor's Note: After this article was published, Linklaters announced that it had "advised Chariot Top Group, a company represented by Griffin Real Estate, on a real estate portfolio acquisition [of] 28 shopping centers located across Poland from A-R-A Retail Centres, owned by a consortium formed by Ares Management L.P., AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets and Apollo Rida, and on the subsequent resale of 12 properties from this portfolio to Echo Polska Properties." According to the firm, "January 4 marked the closing of the first stage of the transaction, namely the acquisition of 28 shopping centres by Chariot Top Group and the subsequent resale of the first tranche of the portfolio comprising 4 M1 shopping centres to EPP (with eight other properties to follow at a later stage)."
The Linklaters team advising Chariot Top Group was led by Partners Artur Kulawski and Janusz Dzianachowski and included, among others, Managing Associate Judyta Sawicka, Senior Associate Monika Lerka, and Associates Tomasz Trystula and Zaneta Rogon. Counsel Marcin Schulz led the team advising on the resale part of the transaction and on all corporate law aspects, supported by Managing Associate Christopher Quinn and Associate Jakub Wozniak. Advice on the financing of the transaction was handled by a London banking team led by led by Partner Steve Smith, supported by Partner Scott Simpson, Managing Associate Katy Lucas and a Warsaw banking team consisting of Managing Associate Joanna Gawlicka and Associates Marcin Nowak and Maciej Pietron. Linklaters’ Amsterdam and Luxembourg offices were also involved in relation to relevant jurisdiction-specific issues.
Subsequently, Magnusson confirmed that it had advised A-R-A Retail Centers on the sale of the 28 properties to Chariot Top Group. More information on that deal can be found here.
Later, Dentons announced that it advised HSBC Bank on the approximately EUR 635 million of real estate finance investment facilities signed with Chariot Top Group BV to finance its acquisition the retail portfolio from A-R-A Retail Centers. The Dentons team was co-led by London Partner James Irvine and Warsaw Partner Mateusz Toczyski and included, in London, Tax Partner Alex Tostevin, Senior Associates Olivia Ashurst and Scott Syme, and Associate Louisa Clapton; in Poland, Tax Partner Cezary Przygodzki, Tax Counsel Tomasz Krasowski, Senior Associates Piotr Nerwinski and Hanna Zarska, Associates Monika Kowara, Lukasz Blaszczak, and Alicja Pulawska-Kusnierz, and Junior Associates Jan Zaremba and Justyna Machnicka; and in the Netherlands, Partner Jan-Mathijs Hermans, Tax Partner Heico Reinoud, Associate Partner Jeroen den Hamer, Associates Magdalena Kalinska and Tom Tempelaars, and Junior Associates Robbert Middelburg and Vincent Wensink.
