Mitiska REIM Selling Romanian Retail Parks in 250M Euro Deal, Advised by CBRE, Belfius, and Kepler Chevreux

Mitiska REIM, fund manager owned by Belgian millionaire Luc Geuten and Axel Despriet, has appointed CBRE broker for the sale of the 24 retail parks it manages in Romania, in a transaction of around 250 million euros, with the potential to become the biggest of the year, according to the information obtained by Profit.ro.

Last year, Profit.ro announced for the first time that Mitiska is analyzing the option of an exit in Romania.

The company’s plan also includes the sale of the accumulated properties in Belgium, which brings the transaction to around 450 million euros in total. The portfolios in the two countries comprise retail parks with a cumulative area of ​​208,000 square meters.

The parks are owned by the FRI and FRI 2 funds, and Mitiska REIM acts as an advisor to the funds in these transactions.

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In Romania, the two funds have 24 retail parks, anchored by Kaufland or Lidl, with a gross leasable area of ​​132,000 square meters. From Belgium, it sells its 5 retail parks for 200 million euros.

The local properties of the funds advised by Mitiska are in Bucharest, Bistrița, Pașcani, Slobozia, Ploiesti, Mediaș, Reșița, Buzău, Arad, Odorhei, Sighet, Câmpina, Caransebeș, Medgidia, Iași, Târgu Mureș, Tulcea, Slatina, Mioveni, Bacău, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Brăila and Giurgiu.
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In addition to CBRE, the Belgian group is advised in the sale by the firms Belfius and Kepler Chevreux.

The Romanian portfolio of the investor recently went through a failed sale process. Mitiska was then offered by the Austrians from Immofinanz, but the change of ownership of the Austrian group led to the withdrawal of the offer, say Profit.ro sources.

“As manager of several investment funds, Mitiska has successfully completed its investment strategy in a number of retail parks in Belgium and Romania, bringing these properties to the status of «core» assets. We believe that the chosen locations, the diverse mix of tenants and the sustainable approach, combined with the resilience of the Belgian economy and the positive socio-economic trends in Romania, will continue to bring new opportunities to grow these portfolios. We are now evaluating strategic “exit” options in line with the funds’ strategy and have engaged Kepler Chevreux and Belfius to manage the sale process with institutional investors. We believe this portfolio is particularly attractive to institutional investors looking to enter or expand into this sector. Mitiska REIM continues to invest in the Romanian market and continues to see a series of opportunities ranging from retail parks to urban logistics spaces and spaces for light industry,” said a representative of Mitiska, for Profit.ro.

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The group made investments on the Romanian market from two funds accumulated in 2012 and 2016 respectively, and in which the money of family offices from Belgium and insurance companies are mainly invested.

The maturity of the FRI fund, launched in 2012, was extended until 2026 and can be extended until 2028. This fund raised 75.2 million euros from investors, money that was invested, in equal shares, in Europe by Western and Central and Eastern Europe.

The FRI 2 fund, launched in 2016, matures in 2028. This fund raised 263.3 million euros from investors, with the same geographical spread of investments as in the case of FRI.

“We are constantly evaluating our strategic options, but do not comment on market speculation about specific transactions. Mitiska REIM remains committed to the Romanian market and, on behalf of two investment funds: FRI and FRI 2, we have built a Romanian portfolio comprising 24 commercial parks with a gross leasable area of ​​132,000 square meters. Our investment strategy is to exit investments after the completion of our development and/or value-add program, so we are naturally in ongoing discussions with investors in all our European markets who may be interested in acquiring the parks our retail customers and who are looking for assets with attractive and stable yields, with strong fundamentals”, Tomas Cifra, Managing Director of CEE, Mitiska REIM, said last year for Profit.ro.

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In the spring of 2021, Erste Group Bank granted Mitiska a financing worth 123 million euros with the aim of refinancing the entire portfolio of retail parks in Romania.

Mitiska was founded in the 1970s by fellow Harvard students Luc Geuten and Leon Seynave. In 2009, Mitiska was delisted and became the investment vehicle of the Geuten family. In 2012, Mitiska founded Mitiska REIM, in partnership with businessman Axel Despriet, who had previously worked for the German fund GLL Real Estate Partners. In this formula, they collected funds worth 373 million euros, which they invested in 76 properties with a cumulative area of ​​810,000 square meters in 10 countries, including Romania.

Luc Geuten’s family has an estimated fortune of 49 million euros and ranks 400th in the list of the richest Belgians, according to the publication De Rijkste Belgen.

A series of Belgian millionaires ended up investing in Romania on the recommendation of some partners or with the help of some Romanian entrepreneurs. They have so far placed over 1.5 billion euros in Romanian properties. Among them are Patrick Van Den Bossche and Marc Lebbe – founders of Liebrecht & WooD, Steven Van Den Bossche and Carl Decoopman – owners of BelRom, the De Pauw family – owner of WDP, Jan Van Geet – who controls VGP, the family of entrepreneur Jan De Clerk – who owns Alinso Group, the Kerckhof family – who own Vabeld, Frank Donck from Atenor, Christian Dumolin – owner of Koramic Real Estate, Jan Demeyere and Didier Balcaen – founders of Speedwell or former rally driver Yves Weerts.