Argo Group prepares its exit from the market

The real estate investor Argo Group, controlled by the largest bank in France, BNP Paribas, and its founder, the Cypriot Andreas Rialas, is preparing to exit the Romanian real estate market, after in 2011 it had become the largest owner of malls in the country.

Shopping centers owned by the investor - Shopping City Sibiu, Shopping City Suceava, Era Shopping Park Iași and Era Shopping Park Oradea - combined a rentable area of 243,000 square meters.

The group's most important asset was Shopping City Sibiu, sold in 2016 to NEPI in a transaction of EUR 100 million. This was followed in 2017 by the sale of Era Shopping Park Iași to the Prime Kapital - MAS REI consortium.

The company that manages Era Shopping Park Oradea entered insolvency in 2013 with debts worth around EUR 60 million. After a long period of trying to sell this asset, Argo managed to find a buyer, from which it earned USD 3.2 million.

After the sale of the shopping center in Oradea, Argo was left with Shopping City Suceava, and is now in advanced negotiations with the British giant M Core for its sale, which is equivalent to an exit of Argo from the Romanian real estate market.

Source: Profit.ro