Kinstellar advises lenders on financing of WestEnd City Center shopping mall in Budapest
November 2017 – Kinstellar Hungary’s market-leading Banking and Finance law team has successfully advised a syndicate of banks comprised of Erste Group Bank AG, Erste Bank Hungary Zrt., K&H Bank Zrt., UniCredit Bank Hungary Zrt. and UniCredit SpA – led by Erste – in connection with a EUR 335 million credit facility for the refinancing of existing loans and the provision of a CAPEX credit line for the WestEnd City Center shopping mall in Budapest.
Opened in November 1999 and built by Hungarian TriGránit, WestEnd City Center is one of Hungary’s best performing and most popular shopping centres. WestEnd’s multi-function building extends across a 47,000 sqm retail area and consists of a 16,000 sqm “A” category office complex, a 22,300 sqm rooftop garden and the five-star WestEnd Hilton Budapest City hotel. This loan agreement, a landmark deal on the Hungarian real estate market, is evidence that lenders are ready to provide financing for propitious development projects.
Csilla Andrékó, Managing Partner commented: “Having previously worked on the original financing and subsequent refinancing of the WestEnd City Center, we are delighted to have been able to again advise a syndicate of top-tier banks in connection with one of the most significant real estate finance transactions on the Hungarian market to date in 2017. The project proved to be extremely challenging, given the tight deadlines and participation of five major banks from different jurisdictions. The successful completion of the transaction is another accolade for Kinstellar, which is establishing itself as the number-one legal advisor in Hungary for complex, cross-border financing of commercial real estate.”
The Kinstellar team consisted of: Partners Csilla Andrékó and Kvetoslav Krejci, Senior Associates Máté Nagy, Zsuzsa Andrékó, and Associates Marcell Horváth and Barnabás Sági.
For more information please contact Csilla Andrékó, Partner and head of the firm-wide Banking and Finance practice, at .