South African real estate investment fund NEPI has bought the City Park shopping mall in the Romanian seaside city Constanta, in a deal worth EUR 81 million. This is the largest real estate transaction in Romania this year, according to Romanian daily Ziarul Financiar, which announced the transaction.

The mall was developed by Israeli company Neocity, founded by businessman Ehud Benshach. The recent acquisition took the form of a full loan repayment by the buyer. In 2006, the developers signed for a EUR 48.5 million loan from Eurobank and National bank of Greece.

NEPI CEO Martin Slabbert confirmed the EUR 81 million price, and a 9 percent yield, according to Ziarul Financiar.

Earlier this year, NEPI bought The Lakeview office building in Bucharest, for some EUR 61.7 million. In recent years, the fund has become the most active, and the largest buyer of real estate properties in Romania.

The City Park mall in Constanta, some 25,800 sqm of retail and leisure, was opened in 2008. The developer has also built two office buildings, Neocity Tower I and II, near the headquarters of the Romanian television on Calea Dorobanti in Bucharest.

Ehud Benshach is the Chairman of Petrolgas Group and Neocity Group. Petrolgas Group, owned and managed by the Benshach family, was founded in the 1950’s. It was a leading energy company in Israel and in the mid-1990’s it enhanced its operations to control 40 percent of the domestic gas market. It also expanded into real estate at home and abroad during that period. The group has been active in various commercial, industrial and real-estate developments and investments worldwide, with a focus on France, Romania and Israel.

Neocity Group and Poalim Capital Markets, a subsidiary of Israel's largest financial group Hapoalim Bank together created Poalim Real Estate Fund, a private real estate fund which has raised USD 92 million that were invested in real estate projects in Israel and Eastern Europe. The Fund manages extensive development activities in Central and Eastern Europe, and Israel, with a total estimated revenue exceeding USD 1 billion. Neocity Group is both the manager and the main shareholder in Poalim Real Estate Fund.

editor@romania-insider.com