Londonlisted Dawnay Day Mulls Purchase Of Retail Centres In Bulgaria

London-listed Dawnay Day Carpathian Plc (DDC), the retail property investment company established to invest in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), is mulling the purchase of two retail centres in Bulgaria, investor.bg reported on March 7.

Paul Rogers, the general manager of Dawnay Day PanTerra, the company which manages the DDC investment fund, said last year that the fund planned to invest between 20 and 200 million euro on Bulgarian property market. However, in February this year the fund’s executives announced that they had already invested or allocated for investment some 95 per cent of the fund’s capital.

“Bulgaria's market is small, as compared to other countries in CEE region. The number and frequency of the transactions is not so high as elsewhere. Unlike Romania and Poland, Bulgaria has little developments to offer for sale, but we are still investigating the investment opportunities in the country,” Rogers told investor.bg.

Currently, DDC is focusing on other markets due to their better potential. Bulgaria might come on the agenda next year, when the fund will have raised sufficient resources for continuing its investment activity. It has already studied two offers for retail establishments in Bulgaria.

Traditionally, the fund targets retail space developments, pursuing yields in the tune of 6.5 to 9 per cent, depending on the quality of the asset. Office space in CEE region is not of any particular interest, Rogers said.

“Over-saturation in retail sector is not a jeopardy, it is imminent, and yet, there are more and less successful projects. DDC hopes to have bet on the right ones,” he added. The ratio between ready schemes and projected development in Dawnay Day’s investment portfolio is 75 per cent to 25 per cent, accordingly. Whenever appropriate, the fund opts for joint ventures with local partners, investor.bg said.propertywisebulgaria.com