SIF Banat Crisana pays EUR 33.6 mln for 6.2 ha of land in western Bucharest

Romanian insolvency house CITR sold on May 19, at a public auction, the 6.2-hectare plot of land once owned by the former tobacco factory Tutunul Romanesc. Local investment fund SIF Banat Crişana (SIF1) paid EUR 33.6 mln for the land located in the western part of Bucharest, which is in line with CITR's initial valuation.

The property is located in the central-western area of ​​the Capital, which includes the perimeter of Orhideea - Basarab Passage and the surroundings of Grozăveşti, Petrache Poenaru and Politehnica metro stations - an area that has emerged, since 2015, as a new office and residential development hub in Bucharest.

The property is, until the completion of the deal, in the portfolio of the company Interagro owned by local investor Ioan Niculae. Interagro is currently under judicial reorganization after filing for insolvency in 2016.

SIF Banat-Crisana (SIF1) is a Romanian investment company listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. In recent years, the company's management shifted the focus toward real estate investments. In 2020, the company paid EUR 40 mln to the South Korean group Doosan for the IMGB industrial platform in southern Bucharest and one year later it was negotiating the sale of the 54-hectare land to a group of developers and retailers for a reported EUR 100 mln.

As of April 30, 2022, SIF Banat-Crisana managed net assets worth RON 3.2 bln (EUR 646 mln). Its current market capitalization is RON 1.24 bln (EUR 250 mln), implying a trading discount of 62%.

(Photo source: Flavius Draghici, national sales manager at CITR, on LinkedIn)