South African investment fund RMH is ready to invest EUR 200 million in the mixed-use real estate project planned around the Romexpo exhibition center in Bucharest by Romanian businessman Iulian Dascalu and Atterbury Bucharest - the local subsidiary of South African real estate investor Atterbury Europe.

RMH will own a quarter of the project, according to Profit.ro - which quotes sources familiar with the deal.

RMH will reportedly pay EUR 150 mln to buy 50% of Atterbury Bucharest and provide a EUR 50 mln loan for the project. The money will be invested in the project "after certain conditions are fulfilled," Profit.ro reported.

The project at Romexpo has raised controversies because the land on which it would be developed belongs to the state. Iulian Dascalu wants to develop the Romexpo project on a 46-ha plot currently owned by the state and used under a 49-year agreement by Romexpo SA, controlled by an NGO - the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR).

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Liberal Party (PNL) voted a law in Parliament granting CCIR to use the land free of charge to benefit the local companies and economy. This prompted protests from other large real estate developers in Romania, including South African group NEPI Rockcastle - the biggest mall owner in Romania. NEPI said that the Romanian state shouldn't give the land around Romexpo for free to a private entity and suggested a public auction instead.

RMH's main shareholders are Public Investment Corporation (PIC), with a 13.2% stake, Royal Bafokeng Holdings, with 12.5%, and the group's founders: Gerrit Thomas Ferreira, Laurie Dippenaar and Paul Harris, with 9.3%.

PIC is also a major shareholder in NEPI Rockcastle and manages the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), the South African government employee pension fund, the largest pension fund in Africa.

In turn, GEPF owns over 8% of MAS REI and is also a shareholder in Growthpoint, which owns 29.5% of Globalworth - the largest owner of office buildings in Romania.

Royal Bafokeng Holdings is the investment fund of the Bafokeng ethnic group, a 1,000-square-kilometer monarchy in South Africa with its capital at Phokeng. The fund manages more than EUR 1.5 billion in assets for the people.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Mihai Olaru/Dreamstime.com)