What was the strategy behind the investor tour, and how big was the group that you hosted?

Brightbridge, one of the shareholders in Atterbury Europe, organised the investor tour for almost 50 people, split into two groups with each group travelling for a week in the countries where our assets are located – Cyprus, Serbia and Romania. They were already invested in our European portfolio via their indirect shareholding in Brightbridge, so the idea behind the tour was to offer the investors the possibility to experience and walk our projects first-hand across several cities in the three different countries. Given that retail represents 88% of our total European assets value, it made sense to experience the look and feel of our properties alongside the regular daily customers of our malls.

The Atterbury Europe portfolio is quite spread out – how did you decide which of the assets/developments the guests should visit?

We had to optimise the logistics and prioritise some asset visits in order to fit the tour over the allocated week, while being mindful of the investors’ itineraries that had them flying out of South Africa on a Sunday and returning the following Saturday. In Cyprus (where we visited Nicosia and Limassol) and Serbia (Belgrade only) we had sufficient time over a couple of days in each country since the distances between our assets are quite short. However, in Romania we only had time to visit Timisoara, subsequent to a bus ride from Belgrade. Due to country size and distances between the four Romanian cities where assets are located, we decided that for this round, Timisoara would be the appropriate one to visit since it is the largest mixed-use project in Atterbury Europe’s portfolio with around 180 000 sqm gross leasable area shared between the shopping mall and four office towers.

Can you share a couple of the highlights of the tour? 

I believe our investors will smile while remembering the incredible dinner at the seaside in Limassol with the old olive tree in the inner courtyard, the walk in Belgrade city centre down to the Sava river, the park’s wonderful atmosphere in Iulius Town Timisoara, and last but surely not least the bus ride from Belgrade to Timisoara through a hard border.

Are you satisfied with the outcome of the event? 

Yes, I believe we are all very happy with the outcome of these two weeks of touring the portfolio. It was very important for our investors to see in person such a wide range of assets and the future development pipeline, while experiencing first-hand the cultural and socio-economic particularities of each country. It also offered a wonderful opportunity for the Atterbury Europe management team to interact and connect with the investors on a personal level.

Will this investor tour become a regular event? 

Based on the unanimous positive feedback received, we are seriously considering the best way forward.