ING backs Czech business parks with €75m facility

ING Bank Real Estate Finance has provided a €75m facility to developer CTP to refinance its Central European business park portfolio.

The six-year loan will be allocated across the assets in CTP’s 2.8 million sq m portfolio located across the Czech Republic. It replaces an existing €68m facility from ING last year.

ING also backed CTP with a €25m loan on a single office building in the Czech Republic last year, taking the total extended to the company to around €167m.

“We advance our facility against quality commercial properties that enjoy long contracted lease tenors with strong and loyal international tenants,” said Jan-Evert Post, member of the global management team for ING Bank Real Estate Finance.

“CTP has been successfully building its market position in the Czech Republic and beyond in Central and Eastern Europe, an important region for ING,” added Post.

Netherlands-based CTP owns more than 60 business parks, containing office and retail elements, across Central and Eastern Europe. Its main product, the CTPark Network, is an integrated system of more than 50 business sparks located across the region.

“We first started cooperating with ING during a difficult time for the commercial property industry, a strong signal that ING believes in the long-term viability of the CTP business model,” said Radek Zeman, chief financial officer at CTP.

“With this new facility, we will be able to further strengthen our portfolio and profitability for the foreseeable future,” said Zeman.

CTP had facilities from a dozen lenders totalling €1.15bn as at 31 December 2014 with Vienna-based Erste Bank providing the most, €399m. Last year, it refinanced about two-thirds of its 2.8 million sq m portfolio for €717m.