Ardian Real Estate has bought its first real estate asset, investing in a multi-let Munich office.
The private investment manager, which manages sovereign wealth and pension fund capital, is focusing on European core-plus and value-added commercial property for its Ardian Real Estate Europe Fund (AREEF).
The deal comes just over a year after it made the decision to move into the property sector, having recruited Bertrand Julien-Laferrière as head of Ardian Real Estate.
Ardian this year hired former Allianz Real Estate chief executive Olivier Piani as an adviser, IPE Real Estate reported in January.
Ardian, formerly AXA Private Equity and spun out of AXA in 2014, said it was aiming to have €2bn in real estate assets under management by 2020, with the division being its fifth investment subsidiary.
Julien-Laferrière, who previously held roles at Accor, Unibail-Rodamco and Société Foncière Lyonnaise – where he was chief executive – said Ardian was targeting “high-potential office real estate in major cities of Europe’s core markets”.
The Paris-based firm, he said today, will look to enhance rental income significantly through active asset management.
“We completed this deal just three months after entering this segment in the German market, which is a great achievement,” he said. “The office complex fits in perfectly with our investment strategy.”
Ardian has real estate teams in Frankfurt, Paris and Milan.
“We hope to announce additional acquisitions in some of the targeted large cities in France, Italy and Germany in the coming months,” Julien-Laferrière said.
Assets targeted for the fund will be worth more than €100m on average.
The Munich asset, the Wappenhalle office and business park complex, includes 33,700sqm of office space and 1,200sqm of warehousing and is let to 24 tenants.
