CPI Property Group Announces Acquisitions In Germany, Italy

The head of the CPI Property Group, Radovan Vítek, continues to expand. Following a failed takeover bid for Globalworth Real Estate, which the company rejected, he is now investing in Berlin and Rome.

Vítek’s group announced on the stock exchange that it had purchased 81,500 square meters of land in Schönefeld near the new Berlin airport. In addition, it acquired a half share in three real estate projects in the center of Berlin for a total of 15.3 million euros, about 390 million crowns. CPI PG spokesman Jakub Velen did not comment on the price paid.

In addition, the group continues to invest in Italy, where it recently acquired Nova Re SIIQ. Its real estate portfolio includes the Maximo shopping center in Rome, opened last October as the first Roman center in 15 years, over 400,000 square meters of land in the Italian capital and smaller assets. The shopping center is almost fully occupied and the tenants include the first Primark store in Rome.

The entire transaction consists of the restructuring of loans from UniCredit for an Italian family business together with the purchase of a stake in the company. It took place with the help of Vítek, who first bought a stake, which enabled CPI PG to be involved in the loan restructuring, which was, however, limited.

“CPI Property Group’s expansion into Italy will consist of careful asset selection and bidding discipline,” commented CPI PG CEO Martin Němeček on the transaction. The group has been negotiating with Italian banks and entrepreneurs for years for restructuring, which would include the purchase of receivables from banks at a significant discount, as well as an agreement on the purchase of equity interests from owners. Italian developers are heavily in debt after the protracted crisis in the local real estate market.

Receivables from an unnamed family business were purchased at a large discount, the group claims. “The total transaction value was 318 million euros, ie 8.1 billion crowns,” adds Velen, adding that the group values the purchased portfolio. But he did not state the price paid.

Last year, CPI Property Group increased its gross operating profit EBITDA by 15.9 percent to 338 million euros. Sales fell 7.3 percent to 623 million euros. Net income from business activities then stagnated at 344 million euros.