Reff & Associates and Deloitte Romania assisted Studium Green in the acquisition of 100 real estate assets from Immobiliare Italo Romena

Reff & Associates and Deloitte Romania provided assistance to Studium Green, the real estate developer from Cluj owned by businessman Dorin Bob, in the acquisition of a portfolio of 100 buildings and properties from Immobiliare Italo Romena, a subsidiary of the former Italian bank Veneto Banca (since 2017 in state of compulsory administrative liquidation). The acquired portfolio includes more than 100 varied real estate assets, including office and residential buildings, agricultural land, hotels and pensions, located throughout Romania, but mainly in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Oradea.

The transaction was signed in August 2021 and the transfer of the first phase properties has been finalized in February 2022, while the remaining properties will be transferred by the end of this year.

The 100 assets taken over from Immobiliare Italo Romena will be added to the existing portfolio of Studium Green, which includes real estate projects such as “Wings”, “West Side Park” and “Seasons” located in Cluj-Napoca.

“I am particularly pleased with the acquisition of this portfolio of assets which were blocked for so many years due to the legal and financial situation of the Veneto Group,” said Dorin Bob, CEO of Studium Green. “The active re-introduction of these assets to the economic circuit will now provide local investors with valuable opportunities to develop a range of productive projects in many varied sectors,” he added.

The Reff & Associates | Deloitte Legal real estate team provided assistance to Studium Greenin in preparing the legal analysis and due diligence, structuring of the deal, as well as transaction assistance and negotiations. The team of lawyers included Irina Dimitriu, Partner, Larisa Popoviciu, Senior Managing Associate, and Maria Nitulescu, Managing Associate. Deloitte Tax provided tax advice for the transaction documents through the contribution of Iulia Bica, Manager.

“This is one of the most well-known portfolios on the market. The variety of the real estate assets entailed significant legal complexities which we needed to untangle, in record time, during the very intense due diligence process. The particularities of each type of properties generated an intricate transaction structure, in several phases, each with its own conditions and requirements. It was a real challenge to optimize the potential of more than 100 assets while at the same time finding pragmatic solutions that would safeguard the client’s interests and also meet the seller’s requirements, all the above in a rather strict bidding process,” said Irina Dimitriu, Partner at Reff & Associates | Deloitte Legal and leader of the real estate practice.