VIENNA, Austria & SOFIA, Bulgaria--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UniCredit Bank Austria AG and UniCredit Bulbank AD increased and amended its current senior facility with Business Park Sofia (BPS), the largest office park in Central and Eastern Europe, in order to accommodate a new syndication partner, Raiffeisen Bank International AG (WBAG: RBI), reaching now a total volume of € 112.9 million. The transaction closed in September 2016.
The new joint facility is being provided by UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Raiffeisen Bank International AG and UniCredit Bulbank AD. UniCredit Bank Austria AG and UniCredit Bulbank AD acted as mandated lead arrangers, syndication agents and underwriters. UniCredit Bulbank AD is acting as facility and security agent, account bank, and hedge provider of this transaction. Also, Arco Capital has mandated UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Raiffeisen Bank International AG and UniCredit Bulbank AD to provide a construction facility for a new development undertaking in process.
The Business Park Sofia office complex consists of fourteen Class A modern buildings, located in the prime location for business in Sofia. The total built-up area is 187,000 m² and is fully leased to more than 150 international tenants and accommodating more than 11,000 employees. The business park comprises more than fifty percent of Sofia’s central business district currently leased Class A office space. BPS is the most prestigious office centre in Sofia. It offers a unique architectural design and high technical specification of the buildings. Also, further development of buildings and infrastructure within the park is underway.
The growth and development of BPS is part of Arco Capital’s strategy to continue the development of the asset in order to meet the current high tenant demand in the CEE region and specifically in the Sofia CBD.
“We are very pleased to financially support Arco Capital as part of the lending group for their vibrant and successful BPS in order to grow and further develop the office park in the region. Arco Capital has a proven track record for successfully managing BPS and attracting a lot of the big international tenants in the Sofia office market,” – said Michael Weitersberger, Head of Real Estate Finance International, Raiffeisen Bank International AG. Lukasz Motyl, Head of Real Estate CEE at UniCredit Bank Austria AG, said: "We are very pleased to have worked again with our partner to continue to support the financing of what is the premier office park in Central and Eastern Europe. We are glad that we had a chance to pair up with Raiffeisen Bank International in this great project in order to expand our long-standing lending relationship with BPS, and its fund sponsor Arco Capital. The re-financing of BPS is also a great example of the positive lending climate in the CEE region.”
Tomasz Radwanski, Managing Director and Head of EMEA at Arco Capital, added: “We are extremely pleased that both Raiffeisen and UniCredit are jointly re-financing Business Park Sofia, and providing us with the financial capabilities to expand our operations. We are observing continuous high demand for our office space. We are very pleased that we could attract expansion financing from UniCredit and Raiffeisen. This prolongs a long term successful partnership with flagship regional banks. Arco Capital, Business Park Sofia and UniCredit have had a longstanding relationship; now this is complemented by the addition Raiffeisen Bank. This re-financing transaction will not only increase our leading position in the Sofia institutional office market, but also enables us to expand it. We were one of the first international institutional investors in Sofia back ten years ago. Business Park Sofia continues to be the preeminent office park in the CEE region.”
Notes to Editors:
UniCredit Bank Austria (www.bankaustria.at) (MIL: UCG) has been a member of UniCredit, one of the largest European banking groups, since 2005. The bank maintains an extensive network in Austria, with about 9.600 employees serving customers in some 260 branches. Bank Austria serves as UniCredit's hub for the banking network in Central and Eastern Europe, a region where the Group is the clear market leader with around 2,240 branches and outlets (as of 04 August 2016). The CEE Division operates through Bank Austria which acts as sub-holding company of the Group and is responsible for overseeing the Group's banking activities in the CEE region, excluding Poland which is under management of UniCredit.
UniCredit Bulbank (www.unicreditbulbank.bg) is the biggest Bulgarian bank in terms of assets, exceeding BGN 18 billion as of June 2016. The Bank is servicing over one million individual clients and households, high profile private customers, small and mid-sized businesses, larger domestic and multinational corporates, municipalities and budget enterprises.
Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) (WBAG: RBI) (www.rbinternational.com) regards Austria, where it is a leading corporate and investment bank, as well as Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as its home market. 14 markets of the region are covered by subsidiary banks. Additionally, the Group comprises numerous other financial service providers, for instance in the fields of leasing, asset management, as well as mergers and acquisitions. In total, around 51,000 employees service 14.2 million customers through around 2,600 business outlets. RBI is a fully-consolidated subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (RZB). RZB indirectly owns around 60.7 per cent of the shares, the remainder is in free float. RBI's shares are listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange. RZB is the central institution of the Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group, the country's largest banking group, and serves as the head office of the entire RZB Group, including RBI.
Business Park Sofia (www.businesspark-sofia.com) is the first business park in Bulgaria and the largest office park in Southeastern Europe. The facility accommodates some of the most successful businesses in diverse industries. The park is designed to provide efficiency, flexibility and convenience to corporate tenants of any size and scope. It is a genuine multifunctional high-tech business park, which combines essential business components and related sectors in a vibrant community.
Arco Capital Corporation Ltd. (www.arcocapital.com) is an international finance company that engages in mid-market commercial, infrastructure and real estate financing activities in select emerging markets. Arco Capital is externally managed by Bond Street Management (BSM). BSM is a credit investment platform that serves global markets - leveraging its years of market insight, deep relationships and proven investment acumen.
