Dentons advises Rockcastle Global Real Estate on Forum Liberec acquisition

Dentons’ Prague office advised Rockcastle Global Real Estate Company Limited on the acquisition of the Forum Liberec shopping center from the British retailer Tesco in a share deal worth approximately €80 million.

Forum Liberec is a regional shopping center located in the heart of Liberec, the capital of the North Bohemia region of the Czech Republic. The 47,000 sqm center is visited by over 12 million people per year. Its tenants include retailers Tesco, Cinema City, C&A, Datart, Gant, H&M, Lindex, New Yorker, Nord Blanc, Norma, ProBest, Reserved, Sportissimo and Tiger.

Rockcastle is a retail property investor and developer listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) and on the Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Limited (JSE). Rockcastle acquires, develops and manages dominant retail assets in Central and Eastern Europe with high-growth potential. It has a significant retail property portfolio in Poland and investments in global listed property stocks in the UK, USA and Europe. The acquisition of Forum Liberec is its first investment in the Czech Republic. The Company is aiming to increase its direct retail investments in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Partner Jiří Stržínek, Co-head of Dentons’ Real Estate group in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, said: “Although Rockcastle is an active investor in the CEE region, this was their first investment into the Czech Republic, so we were extremely delighted that they trusted Dentons with their entry into the market. We wish them a lot of success with this asset and hope our co-operation will continue on future projects”.

Spiro Noussis, Rockcastle CEO said that the deal “marks an important step in our development in the Czech Republic and Central Europe, and we very much appreciate Dentons’ support throughout the transaction.” Dentons’ team was led by Partner Jiří Stržínek and Counsel Markéta Tvrdá.