First Investment Bank: from tenant to owner
The deal finalizing the purchase of the headquarters building comes five months after initial rumors surfaced about the possible sale of the bank
© ECONOMIC.BG / First Investment Bank
~ 2 min read
Antoniya Simova First Investment Bank (FIB) acquired the building that has been hosting its headquarters for the past two years - Sofia Tech One. Until now, the ownership of the building was in the hands of the bank’s main shareholders - Tseko Minev and Ivaylo Mutafchiev through the Fraxinus Investment company.
According to FIB, the decision to acquire the property was made "in accordance with the set business goals" with the aim of "cost optimization" and after "assessing the effectiveness and expediency of the purchase of this long-term asset."
The deal was carried out five months after Capital.bg first reported about the possible sale of the bank. At the time, the company denied any advanced sale negotiations but indicated that there was no lack of interest.
According to the CEO of FIB, Nikola Bakalov, "we consider acquiring ownership of the building as a financially sound investment in accordance with the bank's long-term development vision."
Sofia Tech One
FIB’s headquarters have been housed in Sofia Tech One since the beginning of 2022, under a rental agreement. During this period, according to the announcement, the modern technical infrastructure necessary for the dynamically developing operations of the company has been installed in the building, including a data center, a bank vault, a monitoring center and a front office. Renting the building allowed FIB to gather all its back-office units in one place.
FIB states that the average purchase price is 1755.56 euros per square meter, excluding VAT, and reflects the assessment by Colliers International. The total area is about 45 thousand sq. m., underground and above ground, which indicates a deal price in the order of 79 million euro.
The building is located on the territory of Sofia Tech Park. It has a BREEAM Excellent level certificate and is equipped with a state-of-the-art microclimate management system with individual settings for individual offices and rooms.
The building also has multiple reception areas for meetings, as well as built-in training rooms, a restaurant for employees and guests, a modern fitness center and a two-level covered parking for employees.
Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov
