Business Review

Danish real estate consultant Bjarne Virenfeldt, who spent almost a year as head of operations at Tiriac Imobiliare before leaving the company in October last year, has moved into project restructuring and repositioning through his own company Sun Evolution. The firm is currently working on five projects whose fair market valuation exceeds EUR 100 million, Virenfeldt told Business Review. Two of these developments are in Bucharest and the rest in secondary cities in Romania. They come from the residential, logistic and retail segments. The Dane hopes to finish one of these repositioning projects with a deal in a couple of weeks.

The local Cervantes Institute has leased space in Hercesa’s mixed project Cismigiu in downtown Bucharest, Business Review has learned. The institute will move into the site in 2012. Hercesa has finally started work on revamping the Cismigiu building, five years after buying the property. The future project will include an aparthotel which has yet to be affiliated to an international chain, as well as office and retail space.

Local construction materials producer AdePlast plans to expand its export base, adding Bulgaria and Ukraine this year, the firm has announced. “We are focusing on finding strategic partners. We are in negotiation with several distribution companies in these two countries,” said owner Marcel Barbut.

Real estate professional George Leslie, who has been in charge of local acquisitions for GLL Partners and also director of real estate restructuring at KPMG, has gone on to create his own consultancy firm called EMRE Capital Management, Business Review has learned.

Construction materials producer Holcim saw a drop of 19 percent in its sales volume of domestic clinker and cement, compared to its 2008 results, according to the company’s recently issued financial report. Domestic cement prices were up 1.5 percent in local currencies last year on the previous, according to the firm.

Property professional Teodor Pop has left real estate developer RED, where he has worked as managing partner for the last four and a half years, to take up the same position at Lux Perennial Private Equity Partners, Business Review has learned.

South Bucharest got more crowded with the opening of another mall last week, which has put pressure on the existing retail centers in the region. The first shopping mall to have opened in the south of the city, City Mall, is however in the process of re-establishing itself as a proximity shopping destination. Mihai Agaficioaia, general manager of City Mall, doesn’t expect the impact of Sun Plaza opening nearby to be too great.

By Corina Saceanu

Piraeus Bank has invested EUR 20 million in its new headquarters on Nicolae Titulescu Boulevard in Bucharest. The 15-storey building covers 14,300 sqm, all occupied by the bank.

Norwegian investment fund Romania Invest is planning to put EUR 40 million into off-plan flats, the fund has announced. The sum will cover the down payments needed for future acquisitions this year.

Sun Plaza shopping mall started operating last week with around 80 percent of the tenants able to open their stores on inauguration day.