MAS has signed an agreement to sell a portfolio of six open-air shopping centers in Romania to AFI Europe in a deal valued at almost 200 million euros. The transaction covers properties in Ploiești, Zalău, Roman, Baia Mare, Sfântu Gheorghe and Bârlad, and is being described as the largest deal ever completed in the local retail real estate market.
The agreed acquisition price for the shares and claims of the special-purpose companies that own the centers is 197.7 million euros. That figure is based on an asset value of 281.8 million euros, less about 84.5 million euros in secured bank loans and standard working capital adjustments. The portfolio totals about 125,500 square meters of leasable space and generates annual rental income of 22.7 million euros.
The sale matters now because it further reshapes Romania’s shopping-center market and pushes AFI Romania directly into second place among the country’s largest owners of shopping centers. AFI Europe, which entered the Romanian market in 2005 and is indirectly controlled by Big Shopping Center, already holds real-estate assets in Romania worth more than 1.66 billion euros. After this purchase, its position in the market would strengthen again.
For MAS, the deal marks another step back from retail property in Romania. The company still owns two retail parks after the sale and says it will keep Militari Shopping in Bucharest and DN1 Value Centre in Balotești, along with mall-type shopping centers. Earlier at the beginning of 2025, MAS sold seven strip malls in Romania to the British group M Core for 49 million euros. Even after those disposals, MAS and its development partner Prime Kapital still control a portfolio valued at about 1.5 billion euros across Romania, Bulgaria and Poland.
The transaction is expected to close no later than 30 June 2026, but it still needs approval from Romania’s Competition Council and the Foreign Direct Investment Committee. IO Partners is brokering the deal. One of MAS’s main shareholders is the Public Investment Corporation, while Prime Kapital was founded by Martin Slabbert and Victor Semionov. The sale underlines how quickly ownership is shifting in Romania’s retail property market, even as the biggest names keep trading assets rather than retreating from the country altogether.
