Rockcastle to refinance three shopping centres in Poland with loan from pbb, Helaba and ING Bank

Munich/Frankfurt/Warsaw/London, 21-Sep-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, Helaba and ING Bank have jointly underwritten an investment facility, totalling € 163.6 million, to refinance Karolinka, Pogoria and Platan Shopping Centres in Poland. The assets are owned by Rockcastle Global Real Estate Company Limited. The transaction closed in September 2016. pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, Helaba and ING Bank are acting as Joint Lead Arrangers providing equal portions of the funding, with pbb acting as facility and security agent of the transaction.

The shopping centre portfolio is located in the Silesian region. Each centre is anchored by an Auchan hypermarket and the tenants include numerous international fashion brands. Karolinka Shopping Centre in Opole with a total lettable area of approx. 70,000 sqm is the dominant mall in the region Pogoria Shopping Centre is a modern urban centre located in Dabrowa Gornicza and has a total lettable area of approx. 36,000 sqm. Both assets were built in 2007. Platan Shopping Centre is centrally located in the town of Zabrze. It opened in 2003 and provides more than 25,000 sqm of lettable area.

Nick Matulovich, Chief Financial Officer at Rockcastle said: “Rockcastle’s ability to partner with banks of this calibre is testament to the quality of our portfolio. This transaction further supports Rockcastle’s strategy of becoming a dominant retail investor in CEE. It has provided Rockcastle with not only the opportunity to further strengthen its strategic relationship with ING but also cultivate new partnerships with pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Helaba. This deal provides a powerful platform from which to approach future financings with market-leading partners.”

Charles Balch, Head of International Clients, UK & CEE at pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank said: “We are pleased to have worked with our partners Helaba and ING Bank to support the financing of this shopping centre portfolio in Poland. This is the first transaction we have been able to complete with Rockcastle and we would be happy to support them in Poland and other CEE markets.”

Michael Kröger, Head of International Real Estate at Helaba added: “”We are happy to support Rockcastle with this transaction, which is another evidence for further growing interest of international investors in the Polish market. Helaba is active in the region since more than 10 years and has underwritten loans of several bn Euros since then.”

Włodek Skonieczny, Head of Real Estate Finance Poland at ING Bank commented: “Over the past 2 years, Rockcastle has become one of the most active and important players on Polish RE market. We are proud to have financed Rockcatle’s very first investment in Poland. Now, Rockcastle has again appreciated ING as reliable financing partner, this time in the partnership with other renowned names on the market – Helaba and pbb. We are proud that together with our partners we could further contribute to development of Rockcastle retail platform in Poland and CEE.”

Media Contacts:
pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank
Walter Allwicher, +49 89 2880-28787, walter.allwicher@pfandbriefbank.com
Oliver Gruß, +49 89 2880-28781, oliver.gruss@pfandbriefbank.com

Helaba
Michael Kröger, +49 69 9132-4482, michael.kroeger@helaba.de

ING Bank
Renée Schnitzler, +31 6 23557669, Renee.Schnitzler@ing.com

Notes to the editors:

Rockcastle (www.rockcastleglobal.com) is a company listed on both the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (South Africa) and the Stock Exchange of Mauritius with the primary objective of investing in global real estate assets and companies that have high growth prospects. Its investments comprise global real estate securities and a portfolio of direct property assets, which are owned and managed by the company including commercial property development projects, existing properties and real estate companies. Rockcastle concluded seven significant property investments in Central Europe to date and intends to continue increasing its exposure and asset base in Poland and CEE for the foreseeable future.

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (www.pfandbriefbank.com) is a leading European commercial real estate and public investment lender. It is the largest issuer of Pfandbriefe and an important issuer of covered bonds in Europe. Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

In addition to Germany, the main business focus is on the UK, France, the Nordic countries and selected countries in Central and Eastern Europe. In these core markets, pbb offers its customers a strong local presence with expert knowledge across the whole spectrum of the financing process. As a result of its competencies in loan structuring, its cross-border approach and co-operation with funding partners, pbb is able to complete both complex financings and cross-border transactions.

Helaba is a German Landesbank headquartered in Frankfurt and Erfurt and at important financial centres worldwide. As a balance-sheet lender with a sustainable business model, real estate business is focused on commercial properties in Germany, Europe and the US. Helaba started business in Central Europe in 2006. The bank finances office, retail and logistics properties in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia for institutional investors. http://realestatefinance.helaba.com

ING Real Estate Finance is one of the leading commercial real estate financiers with a portfolio of around EUR 26,7 billion. We provide global coverage to clients from offices throughout Europe, US and Asia. ING Real Estate Finance is part of ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s more than 63,000 employees offer retail and commercial banking services to over 32 million private, corporate and institutional clients in over 40 countries.

SOURCE: pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank