capacity
Austrian-based leasing company, Immorent, is about to inject
€50m into its Serbian subsidiary for investment in the Serbian real
estate market.
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Immorent, which is the leasing arm of the Erste Bank Group,
hopes to bring the transaction volume in its Serbian operations to
€70m. Two-thirds of the €50m cash injection will be financed
through its leasing operations and one-third through Immorent’s own
capital base.
Immorent aims to capitalise on Serbia’s South Eastern European
location and unexploited potential in the real estate market by
building a hotel and shopping centre in Belgrade. This will
comprise €42.5m of the €50m funds. The company is also considering
building more shopping centres in Belgrade and other Serbian
cities.
Serbia’s land space is much more expansive and lucrative than
Austria’s, Alexander Petriz, head of Immorent’s Serbian subsidiary,
said.
However, Immorent refused to comment or give further information
on the deal; it said details are not yet finalised and no formal
contract has been signed.
Immorent achieved a leasing volume of €6.1bn for 2007, €3.6bn of
which was generated through the Austrian business and €2.4bn
through the CEE businesses. New business for the period reached
€935m, up seven per cent on the year. The majority of new business
growth was generated by the CEE markets, which recorded €361m,
while Austria recorded €289m.
One of Immorent’s core leasing capabilities is in real estate.
However, while lucrative, the Serbian leasing market lacks
effective regulation.
Furthermore, the Serbian leasing market has been experiencing a
period of stagnation, mainly in the agricultural and construction
sectors. However, financing in the transportation sector is
increasing and the market is consequently more concentrated on
motor vehicle and equipment leasing.
Katherine Gregory
