NEPI puts EUR 5 million into Auchan hypermarket expansion

Newsroom 04/07/2011 | 13:20

Investment fund New Europe Property Investments (NEPI), which was recently listed in the REITs category on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, will invest EUR 5 million in expanding the store Auchan is renting in Pitesti. The hypermarket’s surface is set to increase by 3,500 sqm.

Following the expansion, new retailers will be added to the hypermarket gallery, while the net sales surface will increase to 12,500 sqm.

“We have an interesting plan to renovate and expand the commercial center in Pitesti. The contract we have signed is meant to establish Auchan as a leader among Pitesti retailers and in the region, and will add value to the existing retail park,” said Tiberiu Smaranda, retail executive at NEPI.The South African fund bought the spaces taken by Auchan and Bricostore in the Iris Shopping Center for EUR 20.94 million last year. The seller in the transaction was Avrig 35, a group controlled by businessman Alexander Hergan.

NEPI’s portfolio in Romania includes 27 properties, evaluated at EUR 314 million at the end of 2010.The group’s most recent investments are Floreasca Business Park (December 2010), an extension of Promenada Mall Braila (April 2011), the completion of a refurbishment of an office building in Brasov (June 2011) and the acquisition of retail development land in Ploiesti and Brasov (Q1 of 2011).