Investor and retail tycoon Vagif Aliyev “guaranteed” that he will acquire the famous Kyiv shopping complex Ocean Plaza at a public event on April 26, Ukrainian media reported over the past week.
Russian company TPS Real Estate, which currently owns Ocean Plaza, has been trying to find a buyer for years and has negotiated with multiple investors. Reports speculated that Aliyev’s company, Mandarin Plaza Group, as well as Dragon Capital were considering the purchase.
More recently, Ukrainian tycoon Vasyl Khmelnytsky, who helped develop Ocean Plaza in 2012, said that he is interested in reacquiring the shopping mall. He valued the property between $250 and $300 million.
Khmelnytsky’s and Aliyev’s companies jointly controlled Ocean Plaza before its sale to TPS in 2012. TPS has wanted to exit the Ukrainian market by selling Ocean Plaza as early as 2014, according to media reports. The Russian company is currently controlled by Russian oligarchs Igor Rotenberg, Alexander Skorobogatko and Alexander Ponomarenko.
Mandarin Plaza was not immediately available for comment, but Ukrainian media said that Aliyev was planning to spend $150 to $175 million, citing anonymous sources. Ukrainian media added that the acquisition has not been finalized, but Aliyev told a press conference at his Blockbuster Mall shopping complex that he plans to close the deal by fall 2019.
The investor said he will combine Ocean Plaza with the nearby shopping complex Ocean Mall. Aliyev had previously stated that he plans to open a total of 10 shopping centers in Kyiv, with a combined retail space of over half a million square meters.
Ocean Plaza is a 165,000 square-meter mall at 176 Antonovycha Street, created by Khmelnytsky’s company UDP and real estate developer KAN Development, owned by Igor Nikonov. Nikonov served as Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko’s first deputy mayor from 2014-2015 and is currently an advisor to Klitschko.
According to Dragon Capital’s director of private equity Volodymyr Tymochko, Ukrainians’ disposable incomes recovered sufficiently to see healthy growth in the country’s retail sector. Investors have shown interest in high-profile shopping malls.
Tymochko had said that Kyiv still has room to absorb new malls but that this sector might change radically if Aliyev completes all his promised retail projects.
