TPG Real Estate, a global American investment firm, this week acquired the largest developer in Central and Eastern Europe, Trigranit Development Corporation, headquartered in Budapest.
Trigranit also has a company in Croatia, Trigranit Zagreb d.o.o., known for the Arena Center construction project. With this acquisition, TPG has taken over the name and the entire portfolio of Trigranit, but not the Arena Center, of which Trigranit sold a 50% stake to the American real estate group Heitman five years ago.
TPG will take over Trigranit’s project for building tourist facilities on Čiovo in Croatia, for which all documentation is reportedly ready for realization. This is an investment worth 80 million euros, which includes a top-category hotel with 120 rooms that is expected to be managed by a well-known global management chain, 108 luxury apartments, and 15 luxury villas. The main driver of the development of this project will be the construction of a bridge connecting Čiovo to the mainland. This project is now led by Árpád Török, the CEO of Trigranit, and Gyula Ágházi, the CFO, and it is to be assumed that TPG has further ambitions in Croatian tourism.
With this major acquisition, Trigranit will be divided into teams, with one part remaining with the Arena Center, and the other moving to a new company that will reportedly be called simply Granit. Given that globally TPG has retained all top executives in Trigranit, it is expected that not much will change in Croatia, meaning that business operations in Croatia will continue to be led by Davor Štern.
