Kapitel acquires Viru Keskus with co-investor
The 72% share in the newly refurbished Viru Keskus will be bought from Pontos Group by the 28% owner Kapitel together with Tristafan. The transaction signed today will enter into force in the coming months, subject to the fulfilment of the agreed pre-conditions, including the approval of the Competition Authority. The parties do not disclose the price of the transaction.
“Since its opening in 2004, we have developed the center in cooperation with Pontos. Acquiring the majority share from them is a logical step for us. We will continue to develop the centre in cooperation with our long-term partner Tristafan. The professional team of the Viru Keskus will continue under the leadership of CEO Gertti Kogermann,” says Taavi Ojala, Chairman of the Management Board of Kapitel and a Member of the Viru Keskus Council. “Completed in May this year, the multi-year refurbishment project has resulted in the renewal of 86 stores and 90% of the centre’s premises. Viru Keskus invested nearly 20 million euros and the center’s tenants contributed an additional 15 million euros to renovate their stores. In the near future, we plan to renew the outdoor areas around the centre simultaneously with the construction of a new tramway and the repair of the roads and streets.”
“After the biggest renovation in its history, Viru Keskus offers visitors a modern shopping experience in the broadest sense of the word. We have been able to do this thanks to our forward-looking and supportive shareholders. The change of ownership will not affect the centre’s tenants or customers,” says Gertti Kogermann, CEO of Viru Keskus.
With a total area of 32,000 m² and a leasable area of 29,500 m², Viru Keskus was visited by 13.1 million people in 2022 and the turnover of the center’s tenants was 128 million euros. Viru Keskus is the only Baltic shopping center with the highest sustainability recognition, platinum-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for Operations & Maintenance (O&M).
Kapitel is one of the largest real estate companies in the Baltics, with a portfolio of more than 270,000 m² of rental premises. The company is a large shareholder in four shopping centers (Spice and Spice Home in Riga, Panorama in Vilnius and Viru Keskus in Tallinn) and owns five office buildings (Delta Plaza and Sõpruse Ärimaja in Tallinn, Elemental Business Centre in Riga, Narbuto 5 in Vilnius and I.P. Pavlova 5 in Prague). Kapitel also owns Nordic Hotel Forum (operated by Nordic Hotels OÜ) and, together with Infortar AS, co-owns Tallink City Hotel (operated by Tallink Hotels). Kapitel also has a 50% shareholding in Kapitel Logistics OÜ, which owns two logistics centers on the Tallinn Ring Road. Kapitel has Arter quarter in Tallinn in construction phase. More information: www.kapitel.ee.
Tristafan OÜ is a holding company based on 100% Estonian capital. The Tristafan OÜ consolidation group includes six subsidiaries and eight affiliates in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The main areas of activity of the group companies are real estate leasing and development, sales and technical servicing of construction equipment and agriculture.