VIENNA-Austrian listed property group CA Immobilien has agreed to acquire the investment and asset manager Europolis for $331 million from the Austrian cooperative banking group VBAG. Europolis has a property portfolio of $1.8 billion, focused on eastern and southeast Europe.

The portfolio focuses on income producing assets in the core CEE markets - Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, where it holds more than 70% of its property assets. “The acquisition of Europolis, with its high-quality portfolio generating strong -flow, will contribute significantly to a sustainable increase in value and earnings for CA Immo,” said CEO Bruno Ettenauer. “Eastern Europe is a key market for CA Immo, and we have every confidence that this is a good time in the property cycle to be investing in this region for the long-term. Looking ahead, CA Immo will therefore offer its shareholders an income producing property portfolio that not only harbours appreciably more earnings power thanks to Europolis, but also ideally complements the growth from development activities in Germany.”

Europolis, established in 1990, has been offered in an off-market sales process since earlier this year by VBAG (