South-African investment fund NEPI bought the shopping center Iris Titan from the German group Aberdeen Asset Management, for EUR 86 million. The deal was signed on Wednesday, August 26, 2015.

The Iris Shopping Center, also known as Auchan Titan, is one of the busiest shopping centers in Bucharest with over 33,000 visitors each day. It serves one of the city’s densely populated areas, with over 370,000 residents.

The shopping center has a leasable area of 44,730 sqm. It is anchored by the first and largest Auchan hypermarket in Romania and contains numerous international brands, such as Adidas, C&A, CCC, Deichmann, dm, Flanco, H&M, New Yorker and Takko, and a seven-screen cinema.

This is the first acquisition carried out by NEPI in Romania this year as well as the first transaction after the fund changed its management team. South-African Martin Slabbert, the man who turned NEPI into the biggest real estate investor in Romania, left the company at the beginning of August. Romanian Alex Morar took over as CEO.

“We follow our growth and development plans in Central and Eastern Europe, where Romania has one of the most interesting real estate markets. Our focus remains on retail. Through the Auchan Titan acquisition we consolidate our dominant position in Romania,” said Alex Morar, NEPI’s CEO.

Following this acquisition, NEPI reaches 184.470 sqm of retail leasable area in Bucharest. Last year, NEPI bought the Promenada mall in northern Bucharest, for EUR 148 million. The fund has also developed two shopping centers, Mega Mall and Vulcan Value Center. NEPI plans to invest in modernizing Auchan Titan.

NEPI was advised by Rampart Capital and local law firm Reff & Asociatii in closing this deal.

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editor@romania-insider.com