Europe's largest shopping centre developer Multi Corporation expects to do 'many' more deals with investment manager Meyer Bergman following their EUR 300 mln transaction in the Czech Republic. Meyer Bergman’s retail-focused fund, Meyer Bergman European Retail Partners I, and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) formed a 50-50 joint venture to acquire the Nova Karolina and Forum Usti Nad Labem shopping centres from Multi.
The deal was announced in late September. It took almost a year to complete, largely because Nova Karolina is still a development and the forward-purchase element involved complicated negotiations with all the stakeholders.
The Dutch founders of Meyer Bergman and Multi, respectively Ton Meijer and Hans van Veggel, have known each other for decades but this was the first transaction between the companies. Blake Loveless, head of acquisitions at Meyer Bergman, told PropertyEU that the investor will do more deals with Multi in both Central Europe and the rest of the Continent. 'Now we have this strong working base and proven track record we are continuing to discuss other opportunities.'
Ronald Dasbach, CEO of Multi Development Central & Eastern Europe, agreed this would likely be the first of many transactions with Meyer Bergman. However Dasbach said Multi does not have many existing shopping centres left in Central Europe.
Prior to the deal with Meyer Bergman, retail giant Tesco exercised a pre-emptive right to acquire Multi’s 50% interest in their joint venture of the operational Forum Liberec, also in the Czech Republic. Meyer Bergman had been considering buying Liberec along with the other two Czech assets. 'We have a lot of land plots,' Dasbach added. 'We are working on a big project in the centre of Gdansk - one of the best sites I have ever seen in my life.'
Multi is also looking at new projects in the Czech Republic, two sites in Slovakia and some others in Poland. 'There is also a site in Ukraine we want to bring forward,' Dasbach added.
The November edition of PropertyEU Magazine features a deal in depth article on the Multi-Meyer Bergman transaction. Click on the link below to order your copy. | 
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