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Atrium picks up Prague mall from Africa Israel
TEL AVIV, Sept 27
TEL AVIV, Sept 27 Atrium European Real Estate acquired the Palac Flora shopping centre in Prague for 191 million euros ($257 million)from AFI Europe and Avestus Capital Partners.
AFI Europe is a wholly owned subsidiary of Israeli real estate firm Africa Israel Properties , which is a unit of Africa Israel Investments .
Atrium said the acquisition, financed by equity and debt, is in line with its strategy of acquiring income-producing, supermarket-anchored shopping centres in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.
Palac Flora is the largest real estate transaction in the Czech capital this year, it added.
The acquisition lifts the value of Atrium's income-producing portfolio to 2 billion euros. The Czech Republic accounts for around 23 percent of the company's portfolio by value and is Atrium's second-largest market after Poland.
AFI Europe built Palac Flora and sold half of it in 2004. Africa Israel Properties said it would book an after-tax gain of 36 million shekels ($9.7 million) from the sale of the remaining 50 percent stake.
Israeli real estate investment company Gazit-Globe and Citigroup control Atrium.
($1 = 3.71 shekels)
($1 = 0.742 Euros) (Reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by David Hulmes)
