Griffin Capital Partners (formerly Griffin Real Estate) is the largest, privately owned investment and asset manager in private equity and real estate in CEE, and the most active and innovative investor in the region, originating and introducing new concepts and formats to the market. With a 25-year track record and extensive private equity and real estate know-how, Griffin Capital Partners is a one-stop-shop for international investors willing to invest in Poland.

The Company invests and manages its investment platforms on behalf of both its owners and its renowned international investors and strategic partners – several global investment funds such as Oaktree Capital Management, Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), Redefine Properties, Kajima Corporation, WING, Madison International Realty and Ares Management Corporation.

Griffin Capital Partners’ strategy is to start platform companies from scratch or acquire and develop them to become best in class market leaders. This achieved by implementing appropriate strategies and strong management teams to build their value through organic growth, transforming them into leaders of their markets. Currently, the Company actively manages and develops thirteen different platforms with over 5,000 employees.

The gross asset value of Griffin-managed investments amounts some 7 billion EUR, with a total invested equity of some 3 billion EUR. The Company’s Partners together with the team have a combined track record of over 150 transactions over the last 25 years, with a value totalling over 20 billion EUR.

Actively managed investment platforms consist of:

• Echo Investment – the biggest Polish developer in the office, commercial and residential real estate sector listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It has completed over 186 projects with a total area of over 1,800,000 sq m located in an array of Polish cities.
• European Logistics Investment (ELI) – a logistics platform that is dynamically developing on the Polish market. ELI delivers high-quality facilities located in the most sought-after locations throughtout the country, offering superb accessibility and high-quality warehouse space for businesses, thanks to its partnership with Panattoni, a leading developer of industrial real estate. The ELI portfolio currently includes 28 logistics projects with 10 logistics hubs throughout Poland of a total GLA of over 1.2 million sq m, includingover 734,000 sq m of standing assets, 137,000 sq m space under construction, and a secured pipline of 335,000 sq m.
• International Industrial Properties (IIProp) – a growing logistics platform focused on investing in industrial and logistics space in key European markets. The platform is developed in partnership with Panattoni, a leading developer of industrial real estate in Europe & US. In 2021, the platform expanded across multiple European economies, securing first projects in the Netherlands and Poland, in parallel to expansion in the already established markets of Germany and Spain. IIProp’s current portfolio comprises of 8 projects in key logistics hubs in Germany, Poland, Netherlands and Spain. The total estimated GLA of IIProp’s secured projects amounts to ca. 343,000 sq m. Future projects are strategically sourced within established and new markets of France, Italy, Austria, UK and Sweden.
• Resi4Rent – the first residential-for-rent platform in Poland with 2,300 units in operation, 1,600 units under construction, and approximately 3,100 apartments at advanced permitting stage and coming online in the next 18-24 months. The platform’s target is to manage 10,000 units, which will make it the largest, privately-owned residential fund in Poland.
• Murapol Group – one of the most active residential developers in Poland and has been operating in the multi-family housing sector for 20 years, completing over 100 investments in that time. The portfolio of projects under construction within the Murapol Group at the end of 2020 consisted of more than 4,579 apartments with total usable area of approximately 193,000 sq m, located all over Poland. At present, Murapol has a considerable pipeline of approximately 17,700 units under development.
• Life Spot – a platform offering affordable apartments for rent in mid-sized and large cities across Poland. The platform currently operates 450 units in Warsaw and Gdynia, with further 1,300 units under construction and 2,400 units in permitting stage which are expected to become operational within the next 1.5-3 years. The platform’s ambition is to maintain a leading role in the popular segment of Poland’s nascent PRS market by achieving the size of 10,000 units within the next 3-4 years.
• Student Depot – Poland’s leading student housing developer and operator with over 2,400 beds in operation and around 2,700 beds under construction or at the design phase.
• EPP – a REIT-type company focused on Poland-based retail properties. The company’s portfolio includes 35 projects with a total value of around 2.8 billion EUR and a leasable area of more than one million square meters. It is characterized by its strong purchasing power and attractiveness to international investors. Its goal is to create Poland’s leading, cash-generating platform of well-performing retail, delivering consistently high returns to its shareholders.
• Horse – established in March 2022 as a 50/50 joint venture between Redefine Properties and PIMCO with a target portfolio of 11 retail assets with a total GLA of 439,000 sq m. The transaction is divided into two stages – in March 2022, the platform acquired 9 M1 shopping centres previously owned by EPP (8 M1 locations across Poland) and Redefine Properties (M1 Marki). The entire process is planned to be completed in Q4 2022, when Horse JV will acquire 2 additional Power Parks. The investment strategy of Horse JV is to provide long-term, stable returns on yielding assets to shareholders. EPP continues to be responsible for the management and leasing of the assets. Establishing of the Horse JV is the biggest transaction on retail market in Poland and CEE since the COVID breakout. The transaction was a key part of implementing EPP’s new strategy. It was preceded by the delisting of EPP from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the acquisition of a controlling interest in EPP by Redefine Properties.
• PAD-RES – a leading developer in the clean energy asset space in Poland, and its current portfolio comprises solar and wind projects at various stages of advancement, both in development stage and ready to build. The investments’ operational renewable capacity exceeds 500MW, placing the platform at the forefront of Poland’s emerging renewable energy sector.
• Griffin Property Finance – the largest non-banking, real estate-related, lending platform in Poland providing: financing for land acquisitions / refinancing of land banks for developers; financing for constructions requiring higher leverages or with lower pre-lease levels; bridge financing, especially for projects during re-development, re-positioning or re-letting phases; highly leveraged facilities (with initial LTV of 80%) for cash generating investment projects; mezzanine / junior facilities subordinated to bank loans.
• SMYK – an iconic children’s brand with a 92 percent brand awareness, exceptional brand trust and clear market leadership in the children product’s market. SMYK offers the widest range of children’s clothing and footwear, toys, school accessories, books, multimedia, baby accessories and other products for children aged 0-14. SMYK Group operates in Poland through an e-commerce platform and mobile app, which are combined with 213 of its own brick & mortar stores in Poland and 34 stores abroad (in Romania, Ukraine and Belarus). Additionally, SMYK’s own brands – Cool Club and Smiki – are also available both online and in the traditional stores of SMYK’s business partners in 20 markets across Europe and Asia.
• Chariot Top Group B.V. – in January 2018, Chariot Top Group B.V., via its associated company Chariot Group B.V., acquired a portfolio of 28 real estate assets from ARES/AXA/APOLLO RIDA, consisting of 9 M1 shopping centres, 12 hypermarkets, 4 Power Parks and 3 stand-alone DIY stores. The portfolio had a total GLA of ca. 704,000 sq m. The portfolio was then divided into smaller parts and sold, matching the acquisition strategies of the real estate funds and companies operating on the Polish retail market. Before reaching the divestment point, majority of the properties had their leasing agreements with tenants successfully renegotiated and we have realized several initiatives to increase the attractiveness of assets for potential buyers.

Sourced and passively held investment platforms consist of:

• Cornerstone Venture Partners (CVP) – an early-stage venture capital firm focused on B2B technology solutions, headquartered in New York and offices located in California and Israel.
• Avenga – a software engineering platform operating in the US, Germany and Poland, with some 2,500 IT specialists in focusing on healthcare, banking, and insurance verticals.
• ProService – a leading Polish tech-driven BPO provider serving the investment fund, insurance and banking industries.

https://griffin-cp.com

Cornerstone Partners is an investment management company, active in non-real estate private equity market in Poland since 2001. Combined track record of Cornerstone’s partners is proven by more than 60 companies to exit with an average IRR of above 35 percent. Cornerstone invests in private equity transactions in Poland and CEE with a focus on backing strong management teams to grow and transform their businesses.

The prominent investments of Cornerstone’s managing partners include several investments in healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors (such as Lux Med, the leading outpatient clinics network in Poland that was eventually acquired by BUPA / UK), investments in retail and consumer goods (such as leading Polish brands EMPIK and SMYK and joint-ventures with Zara, Sephora, Chanel and Dior), industrial, manufacturing and infrastructure (such as Kęty, Relax Wind, Budimex, DTH Capital / New York, Immobel, Domy Towarowe Centrum and many others).

In January 2016, in a consortium with Bridgepoint and Griffin Real Estate, Cornerstone acquired the Smyk Group – a leading retail network of stores with toys, clothes and accessories for children in Poland and operating in Germany, Ukraine, Russia and Romania – from Eastbridge and Penta Investments. The transaction value was EUR 250 million. Cornerstone Partners is a partner of Oaktree’s European Principal Group in sourcing, executing and supporting equity transactions in Poland and other CEE countries.

In February 2016, the partnership made an acquisition of ProService Finteco (former ProService Agent Transferowy), the leading fund administration services provider in Poland, with PLN 62 billion in assets under administration, in order to build European fintech offering middle office and IT services for TFI, banks and insurance companies. In order to achieve this goal, in 2016 and 2017 Cornerstone had made several add-on acquisitions of smaller companies, among others: Aspartus (which provides insurance companies with software for handling property, life and communication products), Bonair (an IT company specializing in asset management solutions), IFAS (specializing in valuation of funds). In 2018, ProService Finteco acquired two more companies – Makeitright and Turbine Analytics (which operate on the market of process automation tools for banks, insurance companies and SSC/BPO centers).

Moreover, in June 2017, Cornerstone Partners enlarged its portfolio through acquisition of IT Kontrakt, the company providing high-quality services in outsourcing of IT professionals and innovative IT solutions that are comprehensively supporting business processes. Along with the acquisition, Cornerstone Partners together with Oaktree Management launched the Avenga – a software engineering platform operating in the US, Germany and Poland with approx. 2,500 IT specialists focusing on support for automotive, financial, insurance, pharma & life sciences, and real estate clients, which since then has been extended by the next acquired companies, as follows: 

• In October 2018, IT Kontrakt acquired 51% stake in SolidBrain, and the remaining shares will be acquired in 2019. SolidBrain is a leader on the market of IT outsourcing services in Poland, offering both outsourcing IT specialists and services of project management, development and software testing.
• In February 2019, IT Kontrakt acquired a majority stake in CoreValue. CoreValue is an IT outsourcing company based in the United States, providing traditional Cloud based CRM implementation services and Mobile applications to industries such as Pharmatech, Healthcare, and Finance. The development centers of the company are located in Ukraine and Poland, and deliver solutions to Fortune 500 companies, as well as to medium and large enterprises in the United States and Europe.
• In June 2019, the IT Services Competence Platform expanded to include another recently acquired company – Sevenval Technologies, a leading German consultancy for digital transformation with a strong digital user experience and technology background. The acquisition will strengthen the presence of the Platform on the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) market.

Cornerstone Partners also owns a minority stakes in Bombardier Transportation Rail Engineering – the Poland’s largest rail engineering company (since 2010) and E-TOTO, Poland’s third largest betting company (since 2014).

The Eastbridge Group is a family holding company based in Luxembourg and created in 1990 by its founder, Yaron ‘Ronny’ Bruckner. Throughout its history Eastbridge has invested in multiple markets and diverse industries such as real estate, consumer products, media, retail, education, insurance and biotechnology. Eastbridge, although being a family-controlled business, has had several renowned financial investors over the course of its history.

The genesis of Eastbridge was the change of the political and economic systems in the Central & Eastern Europe region. Thereafter, in early 90’s Eastbridge formed several distribution joint ventures with leading global companies including L’Oreal, Eastman Kodak, Nestle, Canal+, Inditex/Zara, LVMH , PPR (now the Kering Group) and many others.

Out of this activity, in mid-90’s Eastbridge has developed a strong Private Equity practice, which focused mainly on food & beverages, healthcare, retail and consumer goods business in Central Eastern Europe. Eastbridge has invested in and developed several leading consumer brands as well as introduced many international brands to CEE markets. Part of the portfolio has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2004, as one of the largest Polish consumer goods conglomerates. This activity has been continued until early 2016. Eastbridge had more than 30 corporate exits within the sector, with over 30% IRR achieved.

In 1998, Eastbridge has been the investor behind privatization of Domy Towarowe Centrum, one of largest retail and real estate conglomerates in Poland at the time. Due to this fact Eastbridge has developed strong real estate practice in Poland, with its Centrum Development and Investments subsidiary being one of the most active high street retail investors in the country.

In 2003, Eastbridge started its investments in the New York City, US. Eastbridge has been purchasing several iconic buildings in lower Manhattan, transforming the old historic buildings from offices into multifamily rental residential use. Eastbridge owns currently several trophy assets, such as 63 Wall Street, 67 Wall Street, 20 Exchange Place, 70 Pine Street (former AIG headquarters) in New York. Its New York subsidiary, DTH Capital, has been one of the most active investors in the market over last years.

In 2007, Eastbridge started investing in real estate outside of Poland, among others, in the Benelux. In 2010, Eastbridge acquired Immobel, a leading Benelux developer listed on EURONEXT in Brussels. After expanding the company’s activities into new market – Poland, Eastbridge exited from Immobel investment at the end of 2015.