Czech PPF Group sold one of the last assets in Russia

Part of the Czech PPF Group PPF Real Estate closed a deal to sell the Nevsky Center shopping and entertainment center (91,000 sq. m.), located on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. According to SPARK-Interfax, ZPIF Tethys Capital became the new owner of Stockmann SPB Center LLC, on whose balance sheet this facility is located. Its ultimate beneficiaries are not disclosed, however, two consultants who worked with the asset claim that he is acting in the interests of Aptekarsky. According to them, she owns the shopping and entertainment complexes “Vladimirsky Passage”, “Avenue” and “Cosmos” in the northern capital. A source close to the St. Petersburg company confirmed this information, but did not comment on other details.

A representative of PPF Real Estate did not respond to Vedomosti’s request.

Not much is known about Aptekarsky. Previously, it belonged to the Elis group of companies, whose assets were transferred during the bankruptcy proceedings to the co-owners of the Euroinvest company Andrei Berezin and Yuri Vasiliev, the Delovoy Petersburg newspaper reported. These businessmen, in turn, sold three shopping centers in St. Petersburg to the Belize firm Victoria Stratton. Now, according to SPARK-Interfax, the owner of Aptekarsky is closed-end investment funds Quark 2 and Quark 3, which are managed by Baltinvest Management Company.

The market value of the Nevsky Center is now about 7.8-8.3 billion rubles, says Marina Malakhatko, head of the CORE.XP retail department. Sergey Duvanov, project manager for the investment department of NF Group in St. Petersburg, says that it does not exceed $150 million (about 12 billion rubles at the current exchange rate). This is a high-quality facility with high traffic, it has a good location – near the metro station. “Rebellion Square,” he recalls. Malakhatko points out that PPF Real Estate has been pursuing an active tenant rotation policy in recent years in order to increase the average purchase receipt.

According to Duvanov, for the buyer, this is a good long-term investment, which, moreover, will allow diversifying your portfolio.

PPF Real Estate, created by Czech businessman Peter Kellner (who died in March 2021), was one of the largest foreign investors in Russian real estate until February last year. It was ranked 13th in Forbes magazine’s “Kings of Commercial Real Estate” rating with an annual rental income of $155 million. The company acquired the Nevsky Center from the Finnish retailer Stockmann for €171 million in 2018.

Now the company’s portfolio has only the Metropolis business center (113,000 sq. m.) near the metro station. m. “Voikovskaya” in the north of the capital.