Echo Investment, the biggest Polish developer, has sold West Link to Griffin Premium RE.., a new platform created by Griffin Real Estate. The companies have just signed preliminary agreements as a result of which Griffin Premium RE.. will control and ultimately purchase the Wrocław-based office building “West Link” and invest into Echo Investment’s commercial projects in Warsaw – Beethovena and Browary Warszawskie.
Echo Investment S.A. (together with its subsidiaries) and Griffin Premium RE.. have signed a preliminary agreement. The contact gives Griffin Premium RE.. the right to purchase Echo Investment"s subsidiary which is developing the office building “West Link,” located in Wroclaw. The agreement is conditional and will be finalized no later than on December 31, 2018. Furthermore, Echo Investment S.A. and Griffin Premium RE.., with its subsidiary, have signed an investment agreement that will make Griffin Premium RE.. to indirectly invest 25% of the capital needed to complete construction and finalize two commercial projects in Warsaw, developed by Echo"s subsidiaries (Beethovena – phase I and II; Browary Warszawskie – phase J). As a result of the investment, Griffin Premium RE.. will be indirectly entitled to a 25% stake in profits generated by the sale of the aforesaid projects by Echo Investment, and will obtain the right of first offer to acquire them. “The deals are in line with Echo Investment"s asset-light strategy that enables divestments of buildings leased up to a satisfactory level and makes it possible to invest this cash to grow the business further,”– said Nicklas Lindberg, CEO at Echo Investment. “It allows faster capital turnover and higher rates of return.” “This is another step towards expanding and diversifying the most attractive real estate portfolio, which will generate stable returns for investors and result in the ability to pay out attractive dividends,” added Dorota Wysokińska-Kuzdra, CEO at Griffin Premium RE.. Griffin Premium RE.. a company established in December 2016 by spin of nine attractive properties from the portfolio created and manager by Griffin Real Estate group, the leading and dynamic investor operating in commercial real estate market in the Central and Eastern Europe. Currently, Griffin Premium RE"s portfolio includes six office buildings and three mixed-use properties. All of them are located in five Polish cities: Warsaw, Wrocław, Łódź, Cracow and Katowice.