News from 04/12/2007
Alstria Office AG's IPO brought in €437.36mn; including splits, it's the largest IPO in Germany so far this year. A significant portion of the funds will flow back into the firm to help finance additional transactions. Alstria shall soon transform itself into a REIT.
Tower Group: Two portfolios sold in Wuppertal
The Danish Tower Group A/S buys two property portfolios in Wuppertal from various private investors. One package includes a total of 97 residential and twelve business units (size: approximately 7,600 m²). The second includes 29 properties with 290 residential and eight commercial units (approximately 20,000 m²). The Düsseldorf regional office of Dr. Lübke GmbH, in cooperation with F.M.I. Frank Müller Immobilien and Alfred Vollmer Immobilien, acted as the agent. The purchase price was not mentioned.
With the private placement Acron Triad I Limited Partnership, Acron GmbH offers shareholding in a Class A office property in Tulsa, the second largest city in the US state of Oklahoma.
In 2006, Australian investors invested around €2.7bn in the German property market, and with that they were the fourth-strongest buying group. Above all, logistics/transportation properties, but also office and retail properties, were in demand. The interest of Australian investors in the German market seems to be long-term, as various forms of cooperation and alliances between local and Australian property companies supports.
Driven by an oversupply of care facilities and a retiring generation of baby boomers that's considerably healthier and, therefore, more independent than its contemporaries of a few years ago, nursing homes and retirement properties are forming an investment bubble that could burst.
Akelius: More residential properties acquired in Berlin
In the past three months, Akelius GmbH, a subsidiary of the Swedish property firm Akelius Fastigheter AB, has acquired five properties in Berlin with a total of 97 residential and ten commercial units. With bases in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, and Cologne, Akelius now maintains 1,780 units in Berlin and has acquired around 3,165 units nationwide. In the next years, it intends to acquire up to 20,000 residences and to hold them in its portfolio on a long-term basis.