Romania's Unirea Shopping Center to take EUR 40-45 million loan

Romanian company Unirea Shopping Center, which owns two shopping centers, one in Bucharest and one in Brasov, will take a EUR 40 to 45 million loan, its shareholders decided at the end of last week. The money will finance investments in the two shopping centers. The loan approved by the shareholders is smaller than what the company initially asked for, which is EUR 70 million. The money will be taken gradually as the investment program progresses. Company representatives mentioned in a note to shareholders that they applied for this loan due to favorable conditions for lending on the financial market, as interest rates are low. For this year, the company plans to create access points to its shopping centers from the public transport systems, which are the subway for the Unirea Shopping Center in Bucharest and the railway station for the mall in Brasov. The company also wants to expand entertainment areas in both malls. For the shopping center in Bucharest, the company wants to attract new brands, such as MAC, Wolford and Tchibo. H&M, which is one of the largest tenants also wants to bring in its home decorations shop. Unirea Shopping Center is controlled by The Nova Group, which is owned by Romanian businessman Dan Adamescu. He was arrested last week in a judge bribery case. The Nova Group holds 74 percent of the company, while Romanian investment fund SIF Muntenia has a 10 percent minority stake. Unirea’s shareholders also decided that the company would buy a stake in insurance company Astra Asigurari, for which it would pay no more than EUR 16 million. Astra Asigurari, which is Romania’s largest insurer, is also controlled by Dan Adamescu, but the Financial Supervision Authority (ASF) placed the company under special administration at the beginning of the year, due to financial issues. Unirea Shopping Center will buy the stake in Astra Asigurari only after the company will exit special administration and will resume normal operations, the company’s shareholders decided. Unirea Shopping Center posted revenues of EUR 17 million for 2013 and a net profit of EUR 636,000. The company is listed on the RASDAQ section of the Bucharest Stock Exchange and has a market capitalization of EUR 44 million. Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com