EUROPE
PATRIZIA AG is acquiring a pan-European logistics portfolio of 42 assets from BentallGreenOak for around €1.2 billion
Located in France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, the logistics portfolio comprises over 1.4 million square meters of existing lettable area. It also includes a further 138.000 square meters of lettable space for the three developments in Italy and Spain.
The purchase of the logistics portfolio by the global partner for pan-European real estate investment, is on behalf of a logistics fund. This is backed by a club of institutional investors.
It features PFA Pension in Denmark and Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) in South Korea as well as PATRIZIA Logistik-Invest Europa II (PLIE II).
Of the 42 acquired assets, 39 are yielding properties as well as three forward purchased new logistics developments in Italy and Spain which are partially pre-let.
The logistics portfolio properties are located in Europe’s key logistics corridors and are close to 90% income-producing. They are let to a reputable and diverse tenant base of over 30 national and international businesses from the ecommerce, manufacturing and third-party logistics sectors. Key tenants include Carrefour, Aldi, Dachser, DHL, Easydis, and Geodis. The overall portfolio weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) is over seven years.
Robust and reliable returns
Rob Brook, Head of Alternative Investments at PATRIZIA, says “This purchase provides immediate exposure to a portfolio of institutional quality and scale across four separate markets, which will deliver robust, reliable returns to our investors. Furthermore, with strong structural tailwinds and the highly attractive fundamentals of the logistics sector, we expect there to be additional potential opportunities for the portfolio to cover growth markets and to diversify the pan-European logistics platform further, due to a relatively low base of e-tailing penetration across Europe in contrast to some specific markets like the UK, Germany and The Netherlands.”
All activities of investment, management and divestment in Italy have been carried on in compliance with the local regulations and therefore through certain Italian Real Estate Funds managed by DeA Capital Real Estate SGR S.p.A.
PATRIZIA AG has been active as an investment manager in the real estate market across Europe for more than 35 years. It manages more than €42 billion of real estate assets, primarily as an investment manager for insurance companies, pension fund institutions, sovereign funds, savings and cooperative banks and as co-investor.
COMO Metropolitan Hotel bought for £70m-plus
UK
DTZ Investors has brought the freehold interest in the COMO Metropolitan Hotel on London’s Park Lane for over £70million.
The investment opportunity comprises of the majority of the 5-star COMO Metropolitan Hotel, together with nine luxury apartments operated by the hotel, the majority of the renowned Colony Club Casino & part of Nobu Restaurant.
The hotel has 144 bedrooms, a gym, spa and events spaces, and is situated amongst some of the most famous and finest hotels in London.
Tony Brothwell, Fund Manager at DTZ Investors says, “We have been looking to purchase a secure, prime Central London hotel investment for some time and this is just about as good as it gets. The asset will be a core holding for Strathclyde Pension Fund bringing the portfolio size to over £2bn.”
Knight Frank advised DTZ Investors on the acquisition.
New KITE office complex purchased
GERMANY
Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate (Warburg-HIH Invest) has purchased KITE, a new office complex in Cologne, Germany.
It has been sold by the project development firm Landmarken AG as part of a forward funding deal.
The six-storey office building on Rudi-Conin-Straße has a gross lettable area of 22,800 square metres and 477 parking spaces. Some 75% of the lettable area has been leased for 25 years to Sparkasse KölnBonn, the largest public savings bank in Germany.
The new office building in Cologne’s Ossendorf district will be transferred to an individual fund belonging to the provident fund organisation Rheinische Versorgungskassen Köln (RVK).
Plans are in place to obtain DNGB gold certification for green buildings. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Loyal and creditworthy tenants
Hans-Joachim Lehmann, Managing Director of Warburg-HIH Invest, says, “Acquiring the project under development at an early stage allows us to secure a very long-term lease with a loyal and creditworthy local tenant at a high-growth location in Cologne.
“With a vacancy rate of just over 2 percent, office space is in short supply in Cologne. On account of the city’s economic development, the situation in the market is unlikely to ease any time soon.”
The new office building is connected to the city’s rapid transit system. It is on the site of the former Butzweilerhof airport, one of the largest new residential and commercial developments in Cologne.
By 2022, some 5,000 people are expected to live and work on the 55-hectare mixed-use site, which will be home to residential, commercial and office properties. The district already plays host to 400 companies, including Coca-Cola and UPS.
The buyers were advised by the law firm Ashurst, with technical advice provided by ES Enviro Sustain.
Invest Warburg-HIH Invest is one of the leading investment managers for real estate in Germany and Europe. It currently manages assets with a volume of more than EUR 10.2 billion across 91 funds.
Source: https://hih.de/download/press/EN_20191209-PR-Warburg-HIH-Invest_KITE-Cologne.pdf
Stockholm offices deal being finalised
SWEDEN
Kungsleden is buying the Gladan 4 property in Kungsholmen for SEK 428 million in a deal that is due to be finalised on 12 December.
The property in Stockholm City West is being sold by Areim and includes a 7,600 square meter office building. The annual rental value is just over SEK 25 million and the largest tenants are LRF Konsult, Förlagssystem, Region Stockholm/Stockholms Läns Landsting and GEP Communication Group.
Kungsleden already owns six properties in Stockholm City West and with Gladan 4, the total area of the cluster will amount to approximately 58,000 square meters.
Ylva Sarby Westman, Deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Kungsleden, says, “The acquisition gives us even greater opportunities to further develop Stockholm City West aa a modern and sustainable office cluster with attractive and inspiring places. The area is located both centrally and close to water and green space. We have our head office here ourselves and believe it is an excellent area.”
Kungsleden is a long-term property owner. It creates value through active management, development and strategic acquisitions and optimisation of its property portfolio. Almost 90% of its properties are concentrated in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Västerås.
Kungsleden has been awarded the Green Star by GRESB and is ranked as the fifth best real estate company in Europe in terms of sustainability.
Logistics properties near Vienna Airport bought
AUSTRIA
Deka Immobilien has acquired two logistics properties as well as two project developments near Vienna International Airport.
The project developer and seller is Deutsche Logistik Holding, from the family-owned Zech Group.
The two existing real estate properties Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 belong to the Industrial Campus Vienna East. It will be Austria’s largest logistics campus after completion with at least six buildings and a total rental area of more than 120,000 square meters.
Fully-let
The two distribution centers established in 2017 and 2018 comprise a lettable area of almost 33,000 square meters and 65 parking spaces. They are fully let to three creditworthy users. The main users are Post Systemlogistik GmbH, a subsidiary of Austrian Post, and Arvato Logistics Services GmbH, a global service provider of the Bertelsmann Group. The properties are certified with the DGNB Silver for Sustainable Building certification.
The two project developments Alpha 2 and Gamma 3, also in the Industrial Campus Vienna East, are to be completed in mid-2020 and have a total lettable area of more than 41,000 square meters and 131 parking spaces. These two distribution centers also aim for certification with the gold DGNB seal of quality. Users will include Hornbach Baumarkt AG and Rudolph Logistik GmbH.
Two further properties of the park are currently still being planned. The Industrial Campus Vienna East is located in Enzersdorf an der Fischa and has very good transport links.
The properties are to be added to the portfolio of the institutional investor WestInvest TargetSelect Logistics sector fund. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
DekaBank is the securities house of the savings banks and, together with its subsidiaries, forms the Deka Group. With total assets of around €306 billion (as at 30.09.2019) and approximately 4.7 million managed accounts, it is one of the largest investment service providers and real estate asset managers in Germany.
