German wholesaler Metro AG has surprised bidders by canceling the sale-and-leaseback deals involving its properties (14 stores with a total area of ​​200,000 square metres) in Romania and Slovakia, evaluated at EUR 200 mln, PropertyEU announced.  

"Several options were evaluated, and the decision was not to continue the sale&leaseback project," Metro AG told Economica.net.

In Romania, the group was planning to sell nine stores, a portfolio valued at EUR 100 mln, according to Profit.ro.

The decision is surprising, considering the strong demand: in the first round of negotiations 15 investors placed their bids.

The real estate arm of Metro, Metro Properties, was supposed to lease back the stores for a period of 12 years, PropertyEU also writes.

Metro carried a deal similar to that planned in Romania and Slovakia in 2019, when it sold 11 stores in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The stores were bought by the French from LFPI in a transaction valued at over EUR 250 mln.

andrei@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Viorel Dudau/Dreamstime.com)