EBRD invests EUR 50 mln in real estate fund’s new bond issue

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested EUR 50 million in the second benchmark corporate bond issued by NE Property, a subsidiary of NEPI Rockcastle, the biggest mall owner in Romania.

The company drew EUR 500 million in the second bond offer of this kind, which it will use to refinance existing debt, fund the completion of projects under development and purchase new commercial real estate assets in the region. The bonds will be listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and the Bucharest Stock Exchange, providing another boost to Romania’s capital markets.

The EBRD also invested EUR 50 million in the first bond issue carried out by NE Property, in 2017, which also had a total size of EUR 500 million.

“Romania has the lowest use of debt capital markets amongst the economies of central and southeast Europe. The EBRD has been at the forefront of the development of Romanian capital markets since 2013. Earlier this month, the EBRD has backed the country’s first covered bond, a EUR 200 million offering by Alpha Bank Romania,” reads a press release by EBRD.

The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Romania and to date has invested over EUR 8.3 billion in the country, primarily in the private sector. In 2018 alone, it committed over EUR 400 million across various sectors of the Romanian economy.

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