This is the second major deal of Auchan this year, after the group teamed up with One United to buy the former Automatica plant site on Calea Floreasca, which used to make Ford cars in the ‘30s. That site will accommodate a mixed-use development, which will include a shopping gallery.
According to a report to the London Stock Exchange, Plaza Centers sold the plot in Timisoara and a second plot of 30,000 square meters in Constanta for EUR1.3 million, the same as the book value. The sale was in line with the restructuring plan and 75% of the resulting cash (EUR6.41 million) will be disbursed to Plaza Centers bondholders.
Auchan did not comment on the information by press time and Plaza Centers officials said that the buyer did not want their name revealed.
Auchan already has three stores in Timisoara, two of them formerly owned by Real. The three are in the south of the city on Calea Sagului, near the center (Iulius Mall) and in the north, by the exit to Arad. Plaza Center’s plot is in the east of the city where there is no major shopping center.
Israeli-held Plaza Centers dropped plans to build a shopping center in Timisoara and put the land up for sale this summer. The initial mall project included an Auchan hypermarket and construction should have been finalized in 2008. This is the fourth plot the group has sold in the past three years, after Hunedoara, Slatina and Iasi.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)