EUROPE – Aberdeen Asset Management is buying Denmark's Saxo Properties, with its DKK3.7bn (€496m) central Copenhagen real estate portfolio.
The companies said they signed an agreement to transfer the management of Saxo Properties' portfolio of residential and commercial properties in central Copenhagen, which has a value of around DKK3.7bn.
Tonny Nielsen, Aberdeen's head of investment management for the Nordic and Eastern European regions, said: "It is an exciting property portfolio with some prominent investors behind it, and this set up fits very well with Aberdeen's way of doing things."
Aberdeen said the properties it was acquiring complemented its real estate investment universe by adding properties on the city's pedestrian shopping streets.
It said the move strengthened its position as a leading real estate manager in Denmark, increasing assets under management in the country to around £14.6bn (€17.2bn).
The agreement includes the transfer of 16 employees and provides for the management of Saxo Properties to continue as advisers following the deal.
Saxo Properties is a wholly owned subsidiary of Saxo Bank and provides closed real estate funds to wealthy individuals and institutional investors.
Bjørn Krog Andersen, executive vice-president and group general counsel at Saxo Bank, said the bank had decided to sell off the property unit because it was focusing on its core business.
"There has been an interest in the attractive property holdings and clients, and we are glad Aberdeen will be the company to continue developing the business," he said.
The parties involved declined to elaborate on financial details of the deal.
