Pop Baldi spends Astral money on offices

After having sold a 3.95% stake in the Astral Telecom cable company to US-based UPC last year, Dan Pop Baldi has decided to go into real estate.

His company, Terimob Invest, bought the City Business Center office building in Cluj-Napoca, managed by Target Investments, for which it paid about 5 million euros according to sources on the market.

Cristina Irimie, the manager of Target Investments told ZF Transilvania that the transaction had been completed, and that the new owner intended to use the building for office space.

Terimob Investment representatives confirmed the deal, but did not provide any details about the value of the transaction or any future projects related to this investment.

The building has a 4,344 square metre area, consisting of 7 storeys and a basement. Work on erecting this building began in 1995, with the development intended to host Banca Agricola”s branch in Cluj.

The first and fifth floors of the building were taken over by the Banking Assets Resolution Agency (AVAB) in exchange for debts of Banca Agricola in 2001.

AVAB later suggested turning this building over to the County Council in Cluj to manage, with an option to convert it into a “House of Europe” to host all the offices of the institutions that were involved with the European accession campaign.

The former Banca Agricola building was eventually acquired by Target Investments, which changed its name to City Business Center.

Early this year, Target Investment”s management announced an 1.5 million-euro investment to turn City Business Center into a class A office building.

Companies were expected to pay between 13 and 29 euros square metre, with the highest rent charged for the usage of the ground floor.

UPC took over Astral Telecom cable communications operator in a 407m dollar deal. Market sources say Dan Pop Baldi collected about 30m dollars for his Astral stake.