Stewart Title Insures Deal for Polish Shopping Center

December 3, 2013

Stewart Title Ltd., the underwriter for UK, European and Australian transactions for Stewart Information Services Corp., issued the title insurance policy for Silesia City Center in Katowice, Poland. An international investor consortium, led by Allianz Real Estate, acquired the property from Immofinanz Group. ECE, an operator of European shopping center and one of the consortium investors, has taken over the management and leasing of the center.

“As the chosen title insurer for the consortium, we are extremely proud to have safeguarded this transaction,” said Steven Lessack, group president, international operations. “Stewart Title specializes in indemnifying for title risks involved in acquiring commercial real estate so that our clients can focus on managing their investment portfolios with security and peace of mind.”

Silesia City Center was built in 2005. With the addition of an expansion in 2011, the center became one of the five biggest shopping centers in Poland. The property is a combined retail, gourmet and entertainment complex that has received a number of awards, including a 2013 ICSC European Shopping Centre Award.

The amount insured in this transaction exceeded more than EUR 400 million (about $544 million) making this a landmark deal for a retail shopping center in Poland. Stewart Title was well placed to facilitate an on-time closing between Immofinanz and the consortium.

“We are the only leading title insurer in Central and Eastern Europe with in-house legal teams serving the region,” said Tomasz Klodowski, managing director, Polish branch for Stewart. “We are proud of our reputation for being able to underwrite complex title matters quickly.”

Stewart has underwritten more than EUR 10 billion in transactions in Central and Eastern Europe.


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