South African investment: Sofia’s Polygraphia Office Centre to be renamed after Nelson Mandela
AG Capital, a leading group of companies in the field of real estate in Bulgaria has announced the establishment of Lion’s Head Investments – an investor in the business estate market in Bulgaria and Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on the acquisition of landmark buildings with long-term lessees, the South African embassy in Sofia said.
The main investors in this venture are Old Mutual Property, a leading developer of property over the past 40 years, responsible for landmark shopping centres, industrial parks and major office blocks in South Africa’s key cities, and AG Capital, the Bulgarian partner, founded in Varna in 1993 as a real estate company.
The acquisition and renovation of the landmark building Polygraphia Office Centre is the first joint investment made by Lion’s Head.
The Polygraphia Office Centre is a historical landmark in Sofia, which for years housed newspaper offices.
Speaking at the launch event, South African ambassador Vanessa Calvert focused on the strengthening of bilateral economic and political relations between South Africa and Bulgaria.
She said that Old Mutual Investment had been visionary in looking to Eastern Europe and especially Bulgaria to invest, because the country offered economic and political stability for investors.
The ambassador also noted that 2018 is the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela. She said that, at her suggestion, the owners had agreed that the Polygraphia Office Centre would be named after Mandela.
The complex consists of 35 000 sq m of class A office space, a modern conference centre and a gallery, located on 47A Tsarigradsko Chausse Boulevard in Sofia. It is fully leased to global companies.
