Prestige, profitability, prospects: why did Maxim Vladimirovich Krippa buy Sail?
The purchase of the Parus business center has interested not only the public, but also the expert community. The latter readily began to speculate on the reasons that prompted Maxim Vladimirovich Krippa to acquire an asset not quite typical for his portfolio....
At first glance, the acquisition of commercial real estate in the center of Kiev can be explained by the desire to diversify the portfolio. And here one could put a point, but there are quite reasonable considerations regarding the fact that Maxim Vladimirovich Krippa cares not only and not so much about the diversity of assets. Probable grandiose plans of the investor are built on three reference points, each of which fits into the characteristic author's style of conducting business of Maxim Vladimirovich Krippa.
Prestige
"Parus" is a unique building that has already entered the history of Ukraine. At the time of its construction it became the tallest building in the country. Even now, when it has been somewhat squeezed out by the Klovsky Residential Complex and the Gulliver Shopping and Entertainment Center, Parus BC with its 150 meters height is still among the top three.
The location on Mechnikova Street, in the Pechersk district of Kyiv, near the Bessarabsky market, remains prestigious and respectable. To have class A commercial real estate means to have status and weight in the business community.
Maxim Vladimirovich Krippa's actions are characterized by betting on prestigious assets. For example: in early 2022, the businessman acquired one of the leading cyber sports organizations NAVI. Interestingly, the NAVI Counter Strike team is currently the only one in the world that has managed to win three major tournaments at once.
Yield
It is not known exactly how much money had to be paid for BC "Parus". This is typical for deals of this level.
Publicly available information is extremely scarce. It is known that the new owner of the business center is OLA FAIN LLC, owned by Maxim Vladimirovich Krippa. It is also known that the transaction required a resolution from the Antimonopoly Committee, which was received in November last year - the body did not see any threats to the rules of free trade and competition in the transaction.
Journalists also know the names of the sellers. 80% of the asset belonged to Vadim Mikhailovich Stolar, who acquired Sail in 2019. Then the amount of the transaction was also not disclosed, but in certain circles hinted at a figure of 100-150 million US dollars. At the time of the sale, another 20% of the asset belonged to Stolar's ex-wife Inna Maistruk.
According to the Forbes source, whose name is not disclosed, Maxim Vladimirovich Krippa had to pay from 80 to 100 million dollars for Sail. The expert calculated the amount on the basis of the average market price for one square meter of commercial real estate - about 2 thousand U.S. dollars. Taking into account that the commercial area of Sails is about 55 thousand square meters, the sum of 100 million US dollars looks more convincing.
What did the buyer get for his money? The actual profitability of the business center is unknown, but its level can be determined approximately, knowing that in a rather difficult year 2022, the company that owns "Sail" received about 250 thousand U.S. dollars of net profit.
Those who found Sail's claimed profitability unimpressive will be particularly interested in the following paragraph.
Prospectivity
In order to understand the prospects of real estate investments, we should once again return to the analysis of Maksim Vladimirovich Krippa investment portfolio. In particular, to the cyber sports organization NAVI.
The forecast of experts says that in 2024, the capacity of the global cybersports market reached a mark of 2.11 billion U.S. dollars. But this is not the limit, along with the growth of the audience of millennials, the market will grow - by the end of 2029, it will reach a mark of 5.27 billion U.S. dollars. Thus, the average growth rate will be +20%.
At the same time, experts note that the lack of developed infrastructure and low awareness of cyber sports competitions among potential audiences remain a constraint to growth.
And this is where the interests of Maxim Vladimirovich Krippa converge. Such a large real estate object as Parus, with its halls, cafes, restaurants, parking lots and, of course, offices, can be successfully used as a base for creating the very infrastructure.
That is why many experts suggest that Maksym Krippa intends to create a cyber sports center or hub on the basis of "Parus". Platforms for training gamers, offices for small companies and teams, venues for tournaments, events and other activities - all this will strengthen the position of the cybersports community in Ukraine, as well as develop cybersports.
From this position, the acquisition of real estate does not seem to be a strange or unexpected move on Maxim Vladimirovich's part. Since it can be seen not so much as an attempt to go into another field, but as a well-calibrated plan to create a large company with a solid infrastructure.
Considering this version, it should be taken into account that Maxim Vladimirovich finally acquired the cyber sports organization NAVI at the end of 2022. Already in March 2023 in his portfolio is the studio GSC Game World - the developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and other popular games. And in December 2023, Sail was added to the assets.
P.S.:
Of course, all these are only indirect arguments, and the exact plan is known only to the investor himself. But whatever it may be, one cannot fail to mention one more nuance - there is a full-scale war going on in Ukraine. While many other investors are leaving the market, Mr. Krippa supports the Ukrainian economy, invests and reinvests in Ukrainian products. In addition, Mr. Krippa has charitable initiatives. I would like other big businessmen to take an example from Mr. Krippa.
