OREANDA-NEWS. August 17, 2007. The EBRD is teaming up with the Meinl European Land (“Meinl”), one of the largest European real estate companies, to invest into international standard retail developments in the Caucasus and Central Asia aimed specifically at raising the quality of retail outlets in the major cities in the region, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

Both companies are setting up the joint venture Meinl Caucasus and Central Asia (MCCA), held 65 percent by Meinl Land and 35 percent by the EBRD. The EBRD is providing ?52,5 million equity and ?78,8 million preferred stand-by equity to the joint venture.

The fund will be managed by ACTEEUM Group Limited, a real estate development and management company which has already been engaged by Meinl for the development of its retail expansion into Ukraine and Turkey. With the new joint venture, ACTEEUM has ?775 million equity under development.

Central Asia and the Caucasus countries have seen substantial growth rates over the past years. But international developers have not yet entered these markets and local developers, who often lack the expertise for large-scale projects, focus mainly on residential developments and small-scale commercial properties. In most countries in the region commercial financing is still scarce.
MCCA’s investments will typically be grouped around a hyper-market and can include additional features like hotels, offices, residential real estates and entertainment facilities. A range of investment opportunities are already under consideration, with the first expected to be concluded soon.

Alain Pilloux, EBRD Business Group Director, said the newly-created joint venture will combine the strength of two strong partners: “Meinl is a very experienced and successful developer in eastern Europe, and the EBRD is proud to accompany the company even further to the east. It is a region we know well and where we can provide investors with financing as well as expertise.”

Meinl European Land added: “We see significant potential for growth in the markets of Central Asia and the Caucasus. We are proud that EBRD, which has been successfully active in these countries for many years, has decided to realise projects in this region with Meinl European Land as partner.”

Henrik Stig Moeller of ACTEEUM Group described the establishment of the fund as very well timed and expects rapid progress in its investment:“We are very pleased with being commissioned with the management of the fund which has been set up by two highly professional investors which both understand the special market conditions in emerging markets. We do already have a number of opportunities in our project pipeline and are confident that the knowledge of Meinl and EBRD together with ACTEEUM’s competence will ensure the successful development of projects in the region”.