Victor Vadaneaux co-founded Centerra in 2006 following a 10-year career in Western European private equity. Romanian by birth, Victor was attracted by the opportunity to bring his experience and skills to this country, almost three decades after having defected from its communist regime. The motivation behind the creation of Centerra was the opportunity to build thriving, quality businesses that stood out against competition and thus created significant value.

​

In leading the Centerra team, Victor worked to instil a culture of integrity and quality. These were essential values to be upheld by the team in everything they did, while at the same time maintaining an entrepreneurial spirit and taking advantage of a fast-developing economy. As an emerging market, it was equally important in Romania to anticipate potential risks and be prepared to manage them if and when they materialised.

 

By managing a high achieving team and projects that delivered results of a high standard, Centerra was able to attract international financial and commercial partners, and ultimately international buyers for the companies it managed. Coresi Braşov is an example of the ambitious, high-value, complex projects Centerra was able to deliver due to its capabilities and access to capital and expertise.

​

As the 2008 financial crisis hit Romania hard, Centerra had to pivot its model. Initially, Centerra was relying on partnerships with developers who brought project expertise, while Centerra brought capital and investment acumen. Many of these developers had to restructure to confront the crisis and Centerra was able to attract and retain some of the best professionals, architects, project managers, developers and marketing executives and become an urban centre developer in its own right. Some of its main achievements, including most of the development of Coresi Braşov occurred during the financial crisis years. In 2010, owing to the quality of its organisation and planning, the Coresi Braşov shopping centre was one of less than a handful of similar projects of in Romania that received debt funding to pursue its development.

​

Eventually, the Centerra organisation structure had to change for it to uphold the highest integrity and quality standards it embodied from the start. For Centerra to remain faithful to these values, one of the two founders had to leave the firm.

 

By 2012, having completed the sale of Coresi Braşov (Flavus), Centerra achieved a successful exit from all the businesses it had managed in Romania.