Newsec acts adviser in the largest office transaction ever in the Baltics
Newsec in Baltics advised the development of company XXT, which is controlled by Lithuanian real estate development company M.M.M. projektai, for sale of S7 office buildings. S7 is located in the CBD of Vilnius, Lithuania, which consists of four buildings. Agreement has been signed to sell three buildings of S7 complex, totalling 42,500 sq. m. of GLA. The sale closing of the first building DC PIER took place yesterday, whereas transaction closings of the second and third buildings are expected to be finalized in Q2 and Q4 of 2019, respectively. Total value of the transaction exceeds 128 MEUR, which makes it the largest office deal in the history of office real estate market in the Baltics.
One of the leading Baltic real estate market players, Swedish Eastnine AB, which is listed on Stockholm stock exchange, acquired three S7 buildings. Eastnine AB primarily invests in and manages A class commercial properties in the capital cities of Baltic countries.
“Successful development and sale of S7 project is an important milestone for M.M.M. projektai as a developer. In the development phase of S7 complex our main focus was on creating the best product in the market by all accounts, including the highest environmental standards as well as modern engineering solutions. We dedicated a lot of attention and heart to this project and we are proud of numerous awards of S7 project. This clearly was acknowledged by the international tenants who we managed to attract in the early stage of the development, and who aim to become the best employers in the market. We were also pleased to see a strong demand for S7 from the foreign investors during the sale process”, comments Diana Dominiene, chairman of the board of M.M.M. projektai.
S7 project received several international accreditations and awards. The first building of the complex “DC PIER” occupied by Danske bank global services was selected as the best office buildings in the CEE, it is also BREEAM New Construction Excellent certified, first such achievement in Lithuania and the second in the Baltics. S7 first building is also the first in Lithuania certified by Leesman+, as a very effective work place.
“S7 transaction is an important milestone for Baltic commercial RE market, primarily due to its large size. This shows improved liquidity of the market supported by a strong demand from international and local investors, especially for quality products in CBDs. Fundamentally, Baltic region looks very solid and still offers very attractive price/yield gap as compared to similar quality and risk profile investments in both CEE and the Nordics”, says Andrius Svolka, Head of Transactions, Newsec in the Baltics.
Currently the construction of two S7 offices is finished, third one is under construction while the development of fourth stage has just started and is expected to be completed by the end of 2020. The second building of S7 complex is occupied by Swedish telecommunication company Telia, whereas the third building is fully pre-leased to Danske Bank global services. Search of the fourth stage tenant is still ongoing.
The Seller has been advised by the international real estate consultancy company Newsec and the law firm TGS Baltic.