An international consortium led by London-based Alvarium Investments has acquired a strategic minority stake in Diok Real Estate.
The consortium, which has purchased 49.9% of the firm's existing share capital, includes investment boutique 64 Investments.
Diok is a German property firm that owns a portfolio of €220 mln of assets, a sizeable part of which are science parks (28% in value) or related to research and innovation. Green technology investing makes up 20% of the portfolio by value and the firm also invests in digital transformation.
As part of the transaction, the new shareholders will repay a significant amount of subordinated debt for a reduction in the company's overall leverage. The aim is to significantly reduce Diok's level of debt in the medium term and to improve the company's rating in the long term.
Alvarium is a global wealth and asset manager working across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The firm is based in 14 locations across 10 countries serving $22 bn of capital.
Said Alvarium's Jonathan Elkington: 'The market for German science parks is currently highly fragmented and with increasing investor interest in the sector we see a compelling opportunity to consolidate and create a scalable, institutional quality commercial real estate portfolio.
'This partnership fits into Alvarium's broader strategy of allocating capital to identified thematic investment strategies backed by high-performance teams. We look forward to working with Diok as the company continues to accelerate its future growth in this dynamic sector.'
Management appointments
Diok said it had appointed Dr. Ralf Nöcker, principal at 64 Investments, to the management board. As a real estate investment professional with a track record of over 30 transactions with a total value of more than €5.5 bn, Nöcker is expected to strengthen the current management.
Meanwhile, Markus Drews and Daniel Grosch have prematurely extended their respective management board contracts at Diok for a further three years.
Said Drews: 'This transaction will advance Diok's growth strategy and allow the company to seize additional
opportunities in the market. We look forward to working with Mr. Elkington and Dr. Nöcker as we enter this next phase of our development.'
