45m euros for 50% in the biggest mall

Real estate development company Caelum Development, involved in the development of the Parklake Plaza Mall in Titan, has sold 50% of the project to Portuguese at Sonae Sierra in a deal worth around 45 million euros, with the two companies set to develop the mall in partnership. Caelum Development, a company controlled by several Irish businessmen, has been the owner of the land of the former Spartac sports centre in Titan, which covers 8.2 hectares, on which the mall will be built, an investment that will entail 591 million euros, VAT exclusive. “We decided to form a partnership with Sonae Sierra because they are experienced in developing such malls and we can complement each other and share the risk. The deal was worth 15 to 50 million euros,” Davis Sharkey, Caelum Development’s main shareholder told ZF. The investments made so far have amounted to over 90 million euros, so that Sonae Sierra could pay about 45 million euros to become part of this project, which includes two residential towers. “We bought 50% of everything, including the residential project,” said Jorge Morgadinho, expansion manager of Sonae Sierra. Parklake Plaza will offer an 110,000 lettable area, and tenants will include Cora and Cinema City. The mall will be the biggest in the country and Bucharest. It will comprise more than 400 stores and is scheduled for completion in April 2011.