South African company bought the second largest retail centre in Budapest

NEPI Rockcastle announced that through its subsidiary, Arena Property KFT, it has acquired all the issued shares in, and claims against, Symmetry Arena Ingatlankezelő Korlátolt Felelősségű Társaság, the owner of Arena Plaza Shopping centre in Budapest, Hungary.

New Europe Property Investments plc (NEPI) is a commercial property investor and developer listed on the Main Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Limited (JSE) and the regulated market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

According to the NEPI’s press release, with a gross lettable area of 66,000m2,

Arena Plaza is the second largest retail centre in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary,

the second most populous city in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Centrally located in the eastern part of the city, close to the country’s main international railway station, the shopping mall was opened in November 2007 and has since grown its annual footfall to more than 10 million people. Its modern layout over two floors, convenient parking and attractive tenant mix has resulted in turnover growth exceeding 7% per annum over the last two years.

The shopping centre is fully let to major national and international tenants such as Bershka, H&M, IMAX Cinema City, KFC, Massimo Dutti, McDonalds, Media Markt, New Yorker, Peek & Cloppenburg, Pull & Bear, Sports Direct, Starbucks, Stradivarius, Tesco and Zara.

Several envisaged asset management initiatives, including major improvements to the leisure and entertainment offering, the introduction of new international tenants and a major refurbishment, will further strengthen its dominant market position.