GE Real Estate and Helios Phoenix Create Euro 175M Romanian Warehouse Development Joint Venture

LONDON, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- GE Real Estate Central & Eastern Europe ('GE Real Estate') and Helios Phoenix have announced the creation of a joint venture to undertake euro 175 million of distribution warehouse developments throughout Romania. The transaction represents GE Real Estate's first entry into the Romanian real estate market.

The joint venture will initially develop seven Class A logistics and distribution warehouses, totalling 315,000 sqm located in the largest cities of Romania, with close access to highways and major roads, and with some located in the proximity of airports. The developments are being undertaken in response to the ongoing demand for high quality industrial warehouse and logistics facilities across Romania underpinned by its strong GDP growth. The first projects, to be undertaken on a speculative basis, will be in Bucharest, Timisoara, Constanta, Brasov and Cluj.

Phoenix Real Estate has been active in Romania since 2001. The Company has already developed over 60,000 sqm of warehouse and logistic facilities in Romania. Helios Properties, who have been trading for 11 years, are a major UK Industrial warehouse developer, procuring over 2 million square meters of space. Helios Properties and Phoenix Real Estate formed a joint venture in 2006 to develop and manage industrial warehouse and logistic properties in Romania.

Nestor Myrianthous, CEO of Helios Phoenix, commented:

"We, at Helios Phoenix, are delighted to be collaborating with GE Real Estate, one of the world's leading commercial real estate companies to co-develop the most significant industrial real estate project in Romania to date."

Karim Habra, Managing Director of GE Real Estate Central and Eastern Europe, commented:

"These developments will be the first bespoke portfolio of logistics warehouses in Romania, a market which is currently undersupplied. The recent EU accession is expected to further enhance Romania's GDP growth and consumer and industrial demand, which in turn will lead to greater demand for warehouse space.

"We look forward to partnering with Helios Phoenix on these developments. They have a strong reputation of developing high quality warehouse schemes with six years experience in the local market and we anticipate that we will derive great benefit from working with them on these exciting projects. Romania represents our 8th market in the region and as in prior markets we hope to build our presence in the market through partnerships with local players, such as Helios Phoenix. "

  DTZ Romania assisted GE Real Estate in the transaction.

  About GE Real Estate

GE Real Estate currently has over euro 1 billion invested in Central and Eastern Europe. The Company has invested or developed in the retail, office, residential and logistics sectors in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. The Company made its first investment in Turkey in 2006.

GE Real Estate (http://www.gerealestate.com/) is one of the world's premier commercial real estate companies with more than US$59 billion in assets and a presence in 28 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. Backed by GE's AAA rating, GE Real Estate offers a comprehensive range of capital and investment solutions including equity capital for acquisition or development, as well as fixed and floating rate mortgages for new acquisitions or re-capitalizations of commercial real estate. With a 28% compound annual growth rate since 1993, GE Real Estate is one of the world's fastest growing and most profitable real estate enterprises. This extraordinary record of success grows out of a reputation for collaboration and partnership; a depth of knowledge and experience and a history of building relationships, finding opportunities and opening doors for more than 5,000 owners, builders, borrowers and brokers worldwide.

GE Commercial Finance (http://www.gecommercialfinance.com/) offers businesses around the globe an extensive array of financial products and services. With more than US$246 billion in assets and expertise in the middle-market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, GE Commercial Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) , a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.