Timpuri Noi still without a buyer

The 5.4-ha plot of land of Timpuri Noi plant, located around
one km away from Piata Unirii in Bucharest, has been for sale for
over four years, but the price its owners seek to get is almost
three times lower now than it was during the real estate boom given
the firm’s around 20m-euro loans. “(…) I believe we had 30-40
offers for this plot of land in the last few years. Almost all
retailers dropped by,” says Adrian Breazu, general manager of
Timpuri Noi firm, holding one of the most coveted plots of land in
Bucharest in its portfolio. Timpuri Noi shareholders could have
made a fortune had they sold the plant two or three years ago. Now,
though, the asking price is that “of the market at the sale
moment”. “The best offer we got stood at 93m euros, in November
2007, but the other shareholders rejected it. (…) We’re now
talking about 30m euros,” Breazu says. “Our weak point is that
we’re still operating here, so that whoever buys us cannot start
work the next day. At the same time, we also have many buildings
here that need to be demolished, so that the process would be even
longer. The third reason is that we still have a series of law
suits for areas of 2,000-3,000 square metres and potential buyers
want them settled before striking the deal”.