Monday, February 19, 2007

Orco Property Group Budapest

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Orco Property Group to become 6th largest company on Budapest bourse

Real estate developer Orco Property Group, a company listed on the Prague and Luxembourg stock exchanges, is to debut on the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) in the first half of 2007 and will become the 6th largest listed company there, BSE chief executive Arpad Pal said on Thursday. He added that Orco would set an example for other foreign companies that would follow suit and float their shares on the Budapest bourse.

Orco has yet to announce the exact date for the IPO and the number of shares it wishes to float.

Severine Farjon, Orco's investor relations manager and deputy CFO told Portfolio.hu that the expected EUR 100 m capital increase would probably be divided between Warsaw and Budapest, depending on the interest of institutional investors which they would try to feel out during two-day road shows in these cities.

It has already been decided, however, that private investors would not be able to subscribe Orco shares directly, as the Budapest listing will be open exclusively for institutional investors.

Orco Property Group is a leading investor, developer and asset manager in the Central European real estate and hospitality market, managing assets of EUR 1.31 billion (31 Dec 2006) and is currently the developer for Avenue Gardens a luxury development on Adrassy Avenue.

Orco focuses primarily on the property markets of Central and Eastern Europe, where it has been operating since 1991, and its portfolio is rather mixed. It develops retail, office and residential property alike and has interests in catering and the hotel business, as well.

Orco operates in a number of different countries throughout the Central and Eastern European region including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Croatia, Germany and Slovakia.

Orco is a key player on the Budapest property market and the owner of the Budapest Stock Exchange's (BSE) headquarters.

Graphisoft Park and BIF are Budapest's only listed property firms.

Orco's key project at the moment is Warsaw's Zlota tower, a residential building with a height of more than 190 metres. Farjon said 40% of the flats were sold “right off the blueprints" at an average price of EUR 7,000 per square metre.

The company has recently announced it is to launch an investment project of EUR 200 million in Zagreb, the first for the company in Croatia's capital.

The Zagreb project constitutes about one third of Orco's property developments pencilled in for 2007

Source: Portfolio.hu

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