DIY retailer Petrovich bought the property of the departed IT company JetBrains in St. Petersburg
[ad_1]
The IT company JetBrains, which left the Russian market, sold its last real estate assets in the country. Office properties owned by her in St. Petersburg with a total area of 30 thousand square meters. m and a site for the construction of another building of comparable size was purchased by DIY retailer Petrovich. Due to the increased cost of construction and the upcoming increase in rental rates, experts believe that the attractiveness of purchasing office real estate has increased.
The fact that Petrovich acquired two office buildings (30 thousand sq. m) belonging to the IT company JetBrains and a site where it is possible to build another building with an area of 35 thousand sq. m. m, on Primorsky Avenue in St. Petersburg, sources told Kommersant in the real estate market. The parties did not answer Kommersant’s questions. IBC Real Estate, the transaction’s consultant, declined to comment.
Petrovich is the second DIY retailer in Russia in terms of sales volume after Leroy Merlin. He owns 20 shopping and construction centers in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other regions, as well as production sites. Owners: Andrian Melnikov (50%), Alexander Berezkin (25%) and Elena Berezkina (25%). Petrovich’s revenue in 2022 amounted to 115.3 billion rubles, net profit – 9.4 billion rubles, as indicated in SPARK.
JetBrains began looking for buyers for its assets in Russia in 2022 after the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine. The company develops software for programmers, its head office is located in Prague. The founders of JetBrains are Sergey Dmitriev and Valentin Kipyatkov. Financial indicators are not disclosed; in 2018, the company’s revenue, according to its own data, amounted to $270 million.
From the sale of office real estate on Primorsky Avenue, JetBrains expected to gain 10–11 billion rubles, Kommersant’s sources say. According to their information, Gazprom, Sberbank and Tinkoff were also interested in purchasing the facilities. No comments were provided there. These are the only real estate assets in Russia that remained with JetBrains. Last year, the developer sold his Universe business center (6.4 thousand sq. m) on Vasilyevsky Island to the Sterkh corporation (see Kommersant of August 23, 2022).
There was high competition for objects, so the price expectations of the IT company look realistic, says development expert Andrey Veresov. But since European companies must provide a discount when selling Russian assets, the deal could be concluded at a price of 5–6 billion rubles, Dmitry Abramov, CEO of the management company of the Jensen Group investment fund, does not rule out. For the construction of another office building of 35 thousand square meters. m will need to invest 5–6 billion rubles, estimated Maris CEO Boris Moshensky.
Probably, Petrovich is going to concentrate all employees in one place and give up other areas, Andrey Veresov suggests. The retailer is currently renting about 4 thousand square meters for its head office. m in the St. Petersburg business center “Parnas”, and also owns the office center “Nobel” (5.5 thousand sq. m.). The space purchased from Jet Brains exceeds the current needs of the DIY retailer, so part of it will most likely be rented out, Mr. Abramov believes. According to him, the Primorsky district is in demand among tenants, but in terms of rates it is inferior to the city center and the Petrograd side. Nevertheless, with the construction of the Gazprom skyscraper, the status of this location increased, and there were practically no plots left for development, Mr. Veresov points out.
In 2023, the demand for purchasing offices for one’s own needs has increased, notes Konstantin Losyukov, CEO of NF Group in St. Petersburg. Building a new facility, taking into account the cost of loans, building materials and logistics problems, becomes an extremely difficult task, he explains. In the context of a decrease in vacancies and the volume of commissioning of business centers, rates will rise, which also increases the attractiveness of owning office real estate, adds Mr. Abramov. However, Mr. Moshensky summarizes, only companies that have available funds can afford to purchase large business centers.
[ad_2]
Source link
