UniCredit Bank Austria AG and UniCredit Bulbank AD have jointly participated in the refinancing of the largest office park in Southeastern Europe - Business Park Sofia (BPS) by underwriting a € 103.3 million senior facility. The facility and security agent, account bank, and hedge provider of the transaction is UniCredit Bulbank AD.
The Business Park Sofia office complex with its built-up area of 187,000 m² is the largest yet office park in Southeastern Europe with its office space fully leased. The complex comprises of fourteen Class A buildings, more than 50% of Sofia's central business district currently leased Class A office space, located in the prime business location in Sofia. Over 150 international tenants enjoy the benefits of the business park and more than 11,000 employees are accommodated in the buildings. Further development plans for additional buildings and infrastructure are under consideration.
Wolf Theiss assisted the international finance group owning the project - Arco Capital Corporation, engaged in mid-market commercial, infrastructure and real estate lending and acquisition activities primarily in emerging markets - on the Bulgarian legal aspects of the refinancing of existing loans of BPS Group.
The banking and finance team of Wolf Theiss Sofia led by Partner Katerina Kraeva and Senior Associate Rebeka Kleytman and supported by Senior Associates Julia Haralampieva and Atanas Mihaylov, Associate Vessela Dimitrova and Paralegals Radoslav Nikolov and Ivan Genchev advised on all financing, corporate, real estate and tax issues related to the transaction.
Wolf Theiss's team was selected for its top-ranked practice and expertise and well-established relationship with the borrower. On the basis of the sound knowledge of the group and the experience Wolf Theiss has accumulated working with the team of Reed Smith, respectively covering the English law aspects of the transaction, the team assured a successful closing in a complex multi-parties project that involved few stages of transaction structuring, due diligence and negotiations with the new and the existing lenders.
According to Francesco Piovanetti, Chief Executive Officer of Arco Capital Corporation, “Arco Capital Corporation, Business Park Sofia and UniCredit have had a longstanding relationship and we are pleased to continue this cooperation. The consolidation of numerous legacy facilities into one master facility, combined with the addition of a strong partner in UniCredit, further enhances BPS’s operational and financial standing. The transaction will increase our leading position in the Sofia institutional office market and solidify our overall flawless financial performance. This is another fine example of how UniCredit is the only pan-CEE financier with the foresight and shrewdness to finance distinctive projects like BPS; only a limited number of sophisticated financiers are able to capitalize in opportunities like this.”
Lukasz Motyl, Head of Real Estate CEE, added: "We are very pleased to have worked with our partner to support the financing of what is the premier office park in Southeastern Europe. We are very happy that we had a chance to expand our lending relationship with BPS, and its fund sponsor Arco Capital Corporation Ltd., and are looking forward to continue supporting them as they grow their business not only at BPS, but also in the CEE region. The financing of BPS at current time is also a very good example that with appropriate expertise and local know how – in this case provided by UniCredit Bulbank‘s Real Estate Financing team – it is always a good time to finance long term sustainable projects backed by reputable Sponsors.”
