OREANDA-NEWS. November 28, 2011. IMMOFINANZ Group, one of the largest foreign property investors in the Moscow retail sector, has recently signed a USD 55 million long-term credit agreement with ZAO Raiffeisenbank. The debt-facility will be granted for the Fifth Avenue Shopping Mall, one of the four existing shopping-centres, that forms the quality portfolio of IMMOFINANZ Group in Moscow. The successful deal with RAIFFEISEN Bank Russia is another step in optimizing returns on a strong income-generating portfolio in Russia, reported the press-centre of Raiffeisenbank.

IMMOFINANZ Group signed a long-term credit agreement for the Fifth Avenue Shopping Mall, with ZAO Raiffeisenbank. "Following recently increased volatility in the banking sector, our deal with ZAO Raiffeisenbank again underlines the strength of our Russian portfolio. This agreement is another important step in optimizing our financing structure which is based on a defensive leverage approach. For quality properties like our fully rented Fifth Avenue Shopping Mall, long-term debt financing is available at comparatively reasonable terms and conditions from well-regarded financial institutes", explained Eduard Zehetner, Chief Executive Officer of the IMMOFINANZ Group.

"We are very glad to now have IMMOFINANZ Group as our client in Russia, especially as the company has been a reliable partner of Raiffeisen Bank International in Austria, and CEE for a long time — says Oxana Panchenko, Board Member of ZAO Raiffeisenbank, Head of Corporate Banking and Corporate Finance Directorate. — Given the level and scale of the tasks set by IMMOFINANZ Group in Russia, we hope that the deal will help the company to realize its goals".

Following other successful refinancing deals in Russia with high profile institutional lenders, the IMMOFINANZ Group has now taken the next step towards optimizing returns with this credit facility. The resulting liquidity will be invested in selected projects in Russia to further improve the market position of the IMMOFINANZ Group.

The Fifth Avenue Shopping Mall has been part of the IMMOFINANZ portfolio since 2006. This quality neighbourhood centre, with approx. 21,200 sqm of leasable area, is located in Shchyukino, North-West Administrative District of Moscow, a district with primarily residential character and approx. 800,000 residents. The Fifth Avenue Shopping Mall is fully let to Russian and international quality tenants like Perekrestok, Cinema Park, Lady & Gentleman City, Henderson, Mothercare, Oggi, Esprit, Mexx, Profi Sport, Gerry Weber, Geox, Burger King, Starbucks etc.