Press release

Accolade optimizes its performance thanks to 129 million EUR of financing received from new partner – Helaba

11 stycznia 2023

Warsaw, 11.01.2023

Accolade received a long-term financing of the 5 industrial parks in Poland: Gorzów Wielkopolski, Szczecin Załom (West), Szczecin Kniewska, Częstochowa and Kielce. The 129 million EUR refinancing loan was delivered by its new financing partner Helaba. This operation will increase Accolade’s profitability and performance.

This is a second large refinancing of our Polish portfolio, after the first one that we closed in September 2020 and extended in September 2021 amid the COVID pandemic. The times and the market have changed so much since that time for different reasons and have been a real challenge to many players. Accolade’s strategy, however, proved to be bullet-proof and we continue in building long-lasting relationships with the major European banking groups. Financing with our new partner – Helaba Bank – placing confidence in our operations, is here yet another positive verification. We are very excited that we secured this deal – says Tomas Prochazka, CFO of Accolade Group.

Accolade and Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen have agreed on the refinancing of five parks located in Gorzow Wielkopolski, Szczecin, Czestochowa and Kielce. New financing, in an aggregate value of 129 million euros, provided for 5 years period, is the first transaction between the parties. For Accolade, the refinancing means reduced costs of bank financing, less administrative burden and improvement of the debt maturity profile, resulting in increased profitability of portfolio for years to come.

Meanwhile, the market situation, especially increasing interest rates resulting in higher financing costs, has become very demanding for some investors. In face of the general macro-economic situation, the banks tend to be very selective in respect to real estate segments and client groups that they finance at the moment. – It is the first time we are working with Helaba together and are delighted that they trusted us from the start by providing a significant amount of the new financing. We understand the trust is attributable to the experienced Accolade team taking care of the diversified portfolio of properties and Accolade clients operating in the properties. The new loan is strategically improving financing structure of our portfolio in Poland and enables us to focus on further growth in the market, while continuing in our co-operation also with all other major banks operating in Poland – emphasized Jakub Leszczyński, General Counsel of Accolade in Poland.

With this transaction, Helaba has become one of the two largest financing banks for Accolade in Poland.

“We are very pleased having closed such remarkable transaction with Accolade for the five logistics properties in Poland close to year-end. Accolade is one of the major key players in the logistic sector in CEE and meanwhile expanding its operation to Western Europe as well. During the financing process Accolade proved as a reliable and professional partner and the cooperation with the CEE team of Helaba led by Georg Blaschke was at all times trustful and dedicated to close the financing in a short period. We hope to continue the started relationship with Accolade in future and help them to expand their business into new markets”, says Martin Erbe, Head of Real Estate Financing for CEE, Benelux and International Clients Germany at Helaba.

Today, Accolade owns 25 modern industrial parks in all parts of Poland, including strategic locations such as the currently refinanced Szczecin or Gorzow Wielkopolski. The success of this business model is ensured by good geographic diversification, like for example along the western border, as well as the optimal mix of tenants’ fields of business: one-third of the group’s portfolio is from e-commerce sector, another third is logistics and warehousing, and the last third is made up of light production, machinery, automotive, and other processing industry brands. The company is also a front-runner of the ESG trends, being the agent of the sustainable local development.

Helaba is one of the leading banks in the German financial capital of Frankfurt, the Helaba Group employs approximately 6,300 people and has total assets of € 214 bn. Helaba is a full-service bank closely incorporated in the German Sparkasse organisation. It provides a comprehensive range covering the whole of the value chain from finance, design and development to the operation of top end properties. Helaba also offers a host of attractive participation opportunities for institutional investors. Real estate business is not only one of the Bank’s core business areas, but commercial real estate finance is one of its strongest areas and is consistently regarded in national and international financial markets as one of the most successful thanks to its outstanding expertise, an intelligent risk profile and a compelling proposition. Helaba started business in Central Eastern Europe in 2006. The bank finances office, retail and logistics properties in Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia for institutional investors.