Trigranit And Heitman Form Joint Venture For Arena Centar Shopping Center, Zagreb, Croatia

TriGranit Development Corporation

January 11, 2011, 10:31 (PX Newswire)

Budapest, 11 January, 2011 — TriGranit Development Corporation together with Heitman European Property Partners IV (HEPP IV) today announced a joint venture for the ownership of the state of the art Arena Centar Shopping Center in Zagreb, Croatia. Both TriGranit and HEPP IV will hold a 50 percent stake in this newly developed, landmark (180,000 square meters GBA) shopping center, whose 60,000 square meters dedicated to 220 individual retail units are already 95 percent leased. The transaction includes two land plots for a future potential extension of the retail center and the development of a mixed-use project including office, residential units and a congress center.

Arena Centar has strong appeal built on its mix of tenants and prime location. Tenants composed of retail, entertainment and hypermarkets currently include southeast Europe’s first IMAX theatre as well as leading retailers Zara, Gap, Apple Stores, Esprit, and Swarovski. The center’s location both adjacent to the Arena Zagreb sports hall, southeast Europe’s largest multi-functional arena – developed also by TriGranit - and a ten minute drive away from the city center further lends itself to the investment appeal of the property.

“The Arena Centar joint venture deal directly follows on the heels of HEPP IV’s recently announced joint venture of the Galeria Malta Shopping Center in Poznan, Poland. With €505 million in equity commitments, HEPP IV is the fourth and latest in a series of European value-added property investment funds managed by Heitman, which has been active in the region since 1995,” said Gordon Black, Managing Director of Heitman’s European private real estate equity group.

“We have developed and financed the first two phase of our Zagreb project (arena and city center) in a very challenging time and environment. Arena Centar is another proof that there is significant demand for quality projects in the region. We’ve chosen Heitman because we are convinced that with their experience and capital base we’ve found a long term strategic partner. TriGranit will continue city center development now with great focus on Ljubljana and Poznan,” commented the transaction Árpád Török, CEO of TriGranit Development Corporation.

“The Arena Centar joint venture provides a very special opportunity to take advantage of Croatia’s improving demographic fundamentals as it prepares for EU entry with a partner similarly experienced in the property markets of Central Europe,” said Rob Reiskin, Co-Head of Heitman’s European private real estate equity group. “We are very pleased to be teaming with TriGranit on the ownership and management of the Arena Centar as we work together to develop this top quality real estate investment.”

“This is the largest property investment transaction in Croatia to date. The financial resources are secured by the very same six banks (Intesa Sanpaolo, Erste Group AG, Hypo Investment Bank AG, Cassa di Risparmio della Repubblica di San Marino SpA., MKB Bank
Zrt. and CIB Bank Zrt.) participated in the club deal transaction providing financing for the Arena Centar project development,” underlined Zsolt Szabó, CIO of TriGranit Development Corporation.

About TriGranit
The Hungarian majority owned TriGranit is a fully integrated real estate investment, development and management company. With operations in 7 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, a large portfolio of completed trophy assets, and a pipeline of over €4 billion of major mixed-use developments, as well as a number of public private partnership (PPP) investments, TriGranit, the 4th largest property development company in Europe, is well positioned to participate in the expanding real estate markets.

About Heitman
Heitman, founded in 1966 and headquartered in Chicago, manages over $21 billion in assets invested directly and indirectly in real estate in North America, Europe and Asia. The firm's clients include US and international institutions, pension plans, endowments and foundations, and individual investors. European investments span 15 countries with $3.4 billion currently under management. A leading investor in the region, Heitman has over 40 private real estate equity employees across four offices in Europe – London, Warsaw, Luxembourg and Moscow.

Further information:

Ernő Koncz, TriGranit corporate communications director
Phone: +36 1 374 6543 E-mail: ekoncz@trigranit.com

Margot Olcay, Heitman contact person
Phone +001 212 843 8284 E-mail: molcay@rubenstein.com