News from 07/04/2007
Deutsche Fonds für Immobilienvermögen GmbH (DEFO) has sold a portfolio of office and business properties with a total area of over 120,000 m² to a Luxemburg fund company represented by Strategic Value Partners (SVP). The properties are located in the high density areas of Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Munich.
Deutsche Wohnen: Merger with the Gehag Group
Deutsche Wohnen AG is merging with Gehag GmbH. An agreement with OCM Luxembourg Real Estate Investments S.à .R.l. and OCM Luxembourg Opportunities Investments S.à .R.l. stipulates that the Deutsche Wohnen concern will take over just under 85% of Gehag. Both sales parties, behind which the US firm Oaktree Capital Management stands, will therefore receive 6.4 million new transferable shares from Deutsche Wohnen, whereby they will hold nearly 25% of the Deutsche Wohnen concern's shares. Additionally, they will get a convertible bond with a total par value of €25mn and a cash purchase price of €257mn. Before the agreement can be implemented, the German federal cartel office must approve it. Deutsche Wohnen wants to take over the remaining 15% stake in Gehag from HSH Real Estate AG. Gehag's portfolio consists of around 27,000 residential units in Berlin and Brandenburg, as well as 20 senior living and nursing homes. Extrapolating from the total purchase price, the price for the residential property portfolio amounts to just under €1,000/m². Through the merger, Deutsche Wohnen expands its portfolio from 23,000 to 50,000 residential units.
ING Real Estate: Office project in Munich acquired from Hochtief
ING Real Estate is acquiring the office project “Altezza� in Munich from Hochtief Projektentwicklung. The property is located on the corner of Barth and Landsberger and possesses 22,000 m² of gross surface area, as well as 283 parking places. The property in question is the fourth German property for ING's European Office Fund and the second transaction that ING has concluded with Hochtief. At the end of 2006, ING had already acquired the office towers WestendDuo in Frankfurt from Hochtief.
Arcandor: Neckermann headquarters in Frankfurt sold to Segro
Arcandor AG (previously KarstadtQuelle AG) is going forward with the sale of the firm's own property portfolio. The headquarters for the shipping part of neckermann.de on Hanauer Landstraße in Frankfurt has been sold for around €200mn to the British investment house Slough Commercial Properties (Segro). The complex in question consists of buildings with a total area of 310,000 m², of which 86,000 m² alone are office space, on an area of around 30 hectares. In the framework of the transaction, Segro and neckermann.de concluded a sale-and-lease-back agreement for the use of office and logistics properties with a minimum duration of ten years. For Segro, the transaction is the biggest on the European continent so far. In the past year, the firm acquired a logistics portfolio from KarstadtQuelle AG for around €163mn.
Colonia Real Estate: Purchase option for two residential firms exercised
By exercising a purchase option, Colonia Real Estate AG is increasing its share in the residential property companies Emersion Grundstückverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH and Domus Grundstücksverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH from 51% to 99.24%. BGP Investment S.à .r.l. is divesting the shares. The residential portfolio of Emersion and Domus, a total of 9,857 units, is located in Aachen, Freiburg, Hamburg, Kiel, Cologne, Osnabrück, and Salzgitter, and it covers a total area of approximately 623,000 m². With the takeover, Colonia Real Estate informs that it is further pursuing its strategy: “To acquire portfolios with rental price increase and value increase potential.� The firm now possesses a total portfolio of approximately 20,000 residences.