MAS owned Moldova Mall in Romania underwent a redevelopment and reopened in April 2025.
Image: Supplied
MAS, the JSE, A2X, and Luxembourg-listed operator of commercial properties in Eastern Europe, said Tuesday it had sold assets in Romania and Bulgaria to realise about €369.4 million (R7.1 billion), after bank loans and taxes.
MAS said it had reached agreements for the sale of shares of eight of its subsidiaries, holding six open-air malls in Romania. The buyer is AFI Europe, owned by AFI Properties, a leading owner of retail and office properties in Central and Eastern Europe.
The purchase price was €197.7m, being the VC Properties asset value of €281.8m, less bank loans secured over the VC Properties, expected to be €84.5m.
MAS said it was also selling the shares of its subsidiary, Galleria Burgas, which holds Galleria Burgas, an enclosed mall in Bulgaria, to Balkan Retail, a holding company of Hyprop Investments, with the sale proceeds of €53,5m, realised from the sale value of the GB Property of €122.2m, less bank loans secured over the property expected to be €73.3m and adjustments for working capital customary for a transaction of this nature.
MAS directors said the company had undergone meaningful change in its shareholder structure, governance, and strategic positioning following the voluntary offer made by PK Investments Limited (PKI) in August 2025.
Since then, the board had been reconstituted, the group strengthened its balance sheet through the early repayment of the bond due in May 2026, and MAS repurchased some 4.08% of its share capital between October 14 and December 23, 2025.
PKI also acquired an additional 65.4 million MAS shares on December 31, 2025. As a result, PKI and parties deemed to be acting in concert with it now own more than 61% of MAS's sharesl.
On strategy, the company said that historically, MAS has focused on real estate investments within a defined set of geographies. Now, “the board believes the company's future opportunities need not be constrained by either asset class or geography.”
Capital allocated would be directed towards opportunities where the prospects for long-term compounding were most attractive.
During 2025, certain minority shareholders raised concerns regarding the governance of DJV and MAS's compliance with the JSE Listings Requirements in relation to certain DJV matters.
“The advice obtained from South African legal counsel is unequivocal: approvals by MAS, in its capacity as a shareholder of DJV, on restricted matters requiring DJV ordinary shareholder approval under the DJV Agreement, do not constitute an amendment to the DJV Agreement nor do they otherwise constitute related party transactions under the JSE Listings Requirements.
“Accordingly, such matters do not require MAS's shareholder approval…” they said.
Mihail Vasilescu, a current non-executive director of MAS and a partner at Prime Kapital, was appointed as CEO with immediate effect.
BUSINESS REPORT