Anchor Group refinances Anchor Plaza with EUR 57 million from Eurohypo

Anchor Group has secured the loan in a period of increased financial volatility, with financing harder to secure. Eurohypo bank said this year it had only lent one third of the sum it granted in Romania last year.
Anchor Group is currently working on a second office building in western Bucharest, Anchor Plaza Metropol, and on InCity Residences, a residential project in the capital. The company owns two shopping malls in the city, Bucuresti Mall and Plaza Romania, and an office building, Anchor Plaza. It was assisted by Salans law firm in securing the loan. The group previously refinanced its Bucuresti Mall and Plaza Romania project through loans from Eurohypo.
German real estate finance firm Eurohypo, part of the Commerzbank group, opened its office in Romania early in 2007, and is led locally by Fulga Dinu. The bank issued EUR 100 million of loans this year, and has granted EUR 500 million of financing on the local market since its entry. Another German real estate lender, Hypo Real Estate, which has also granted several loans to developers active in Romania, has recently been undergoing tough times due to a liquidity shortfall, and has had to be rescued by a consortium of banks and by the German state. In Romania, Hypo Real Estate granted EUR 234 million to Africa Israel for its Cotroceni shopping center project. The developer said that Hypo's recent distress had not affected the ongoing project.
Corina Saceanu