Consortium lead-managed by Aareal Bank refinances a loan of EUR 650 million for commercial property portfolio in Poland

Wiesbaden (ots) - Aareal Bank has refinanced a loan of EUR 650
million in Poland for a commercial property portfolio together with
Helaba, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG, Hypothekenbank Frankfurt AG, Bank
Zachodni WBK S.A. (member of the Santander Group) and Bank Pekao S.A.
The borrowers are various special-purpose entities of an investor
consortium consisting of Apollo RIDA, AREA Property Partners and AXA
Group. The transaction is deemed to be the biggest commercial
property financing operation in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in
the last few years.

The portfolio comprises 28 shopping centres, retail parks and
hypermarkets across Poland with a net lettable area of just under
708,000 square metres. The properties are largely leased to
affiliates of Metro AG. The value of the portfolio is around EUR 1.2
billion

In this club deal, Aareal Bank as Mandated Lead Arranger, Facility
and Security Agent has taken on a loan tranche of EUR 250 million.
Helaba and Deutsche Pfandbriefbank functioned as Co-Arranger,
providing EUR 100 million each. The three other banks have taken part
as lenders in the syndicate with differing loan totals. Apart from
the senior tranche of EUR 650 million, the total refinancing includes
a further subordinated loan of EUR 55 million, which members of the
investor consortium are providing.

"We are happy that we have been able to realise this complex
transaction with such well-known clients and partners", said Karl
Wilson, General Manager Central & Eastern Europe of Aareal Bank AG.
"This has been possible thanks mainly to the excellent cooperation of
all those involved."

Aareal Bank

Aareal Bank AG, whose shares are traded in Deutsche Börse's MDAX
segment and which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, is a
leading international property specialist. The bank concentrates its
business activities on the Structured Property Financing and the
Consulting/Services segments. The Structured Property Financing
segment comprises the bank's property financing and funding
activities. Within the scope of its three-continent strategy, the
bank facilitates property projects in Europe, North America and Asia
for its German and international clients. In the Consulting/Services
segment, Aareal Bank offers services and products for managing
residential property portfolios and processing payment flows to the
institutional housing industry.

Contact:
Aareal Bank AG
Corporate Communications

Sven Korndörffer
phone: +49 611 348 2306
sven.korndoerffer@aareal-bank.com

Christian Feldbrügge
phone: +49 611 348 2280
christian.feldbruegge@aareal-bank.com