Dedeman owner, close to taking over AFI Park offices in Bucharest

Dragos Paval, the entrepreneur who controls the local DIY network Dedeman, could sign the agreement to take over the five AFI Park office buildings located near the AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping mall for almost EUR 164 million. This would be the largest transaction ever made on the Romanian office market, according to market data cited by local Ziarul Financiar. The sale would generate a cash flow of EUR 71 million for the Israeli developer AFI Europe Romania, which owns the office project. Dragos Paval's entry into this sector would mark the emergence of a new big player in the office market dominated by foreign companies. Other Romanian investors who’ve entered this market include Geo Margescu through Forte Partners. He will complete the first phase of The Bridge office project in September. Two other Romanian investors, Victor Capitanu and Andrei Diaconescu, plan to develop a project on the plot that hosted the former factory Automatica, in the Floreasca area, through the firm One United. The biggest Romanian office owners are Liviu Tudor, who owns 150,000 sqm of office space in Bucharest, and Iulian Dascalu, whose greoup has been developing office buildings in Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, and Timisoara. editor@romania-insider.com