Acquisition

30 Apr 2007 07:03

Fabian Romania Property Fund Ltd30 April 2007 Fabian Romania Property Fund Limited ("Fabian Romania" or the "Fund") Fabian Romania announces the purchase of a €60 million office building inBucharest Fabian Romania has reached agreement to purchase its fourth office project, theCubic office development (the "Cubic Centre"), in Bucharest. The Cubic Centrewill be a class A office building with a gross area of approximately 44,000square metres, located in North Bucharest. The building is being developed bythe Kendama, an experienced local developer in Romania. Construction hascommenced and completion is anticipated in the second quarter of 2009. The Cubic Centre will upon completion of construction provide a net lettableoffice area of 27,000 square metres over 12 floors, together with 533 carspaces. The building is located in a prominent location in the Pipera districtof North Bucharest and is likely to attract international tenants seeking classA office space. Vacancy rates for class A office space in in Bucharest are lessthan 3%. The acquisition is due to complete, subject to certain conditions, in twostages. The Fund will pay a first instalment of €12.25 million, of which €5million has already been paid in the form of a secured loan. At practicalcompletion of the building by the developer, the Fund will pay the finalinstalment based upon a forward purchase yield of 7.4% - 7.8% applied to rentsachieved. Based upon current rental estimates, the total value of thetransaction is estimated to be approximately of €60 million. The total equityrequirement for the fund is estimated to be €12 million. Commenting on the transaction, Mark Holdsworth, Managing Director of FabianCapital, the Investment Advisor to the Fund said: "We are delighted that the Fund has sealed its first investment since Admissionto AIM on favourable terms in what is a highly competitive market. The CubicCentre will provide a high quality addition to the Fund's portfolio of officebuildings. It will also give diversification geographically within the city bothin terms of building type and expected tenant mix." Mark Owen, Director responsible for acquisitions comments: "The new office development is in a prominent location in the rapidly expandingoffice location of the northern Pipera district of the City. This area will befurther enhanced by the new motorway link into the City. The Cubic Centre,which is already under construction on a fixed price basis, is well positionedto capitalise on the demand for Class A office space expected. We are already inearly discussions with a number of quality tenants seeking to upgrade theiroffice accommodation." The lead advisers on the transaction were Eurisko (property agent), WSP(technical advisers) and NNDKP (legal adviser). END For Comments:Fabian Romania:Mark Holdsworth +44 20 7499 9988 Nominated Adviser:Deloitte & Touche LLP +44 20 7936 3000James Lewis Broker:Shore Capital Stockbrokers LimitedDru Danford +44 20 7408 4090 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange