EUROPE – BNP Paribas Real Estate has agreed to acquire German real estate company iii-investments in a bid to expand its European investment management business.
Financial details for the deal were not disclosed.
The new subsidiary will be renamed BNP Paribas REIM and remain under the current leadership of managing directors Reinhard Matter and Bernd Schöffel.
Including the €4.2bn in assets under management from iii-investments, BNP Paribas Real Estate now manages approximately €18bn for third parties, lifting it into the Top 10 European real estate asset managers.
BNP Paribas RE said the acquisition of iii-investments from the HypoVereinsbank, a subsidiary of Italy's UniCredit Group, was part of a development plan aimed at expanding its European activities.
More than 80% of the company's real estate investments in Europe are made in three countries: Germany, France and the UK.
The takeover – which is still subject to approval by regulatory authorities – will strengthen BNP Paribas RE's position in Germany, where it can now also offer investment management.
Until now, it has offered only transaction, consulting, valuation and property management in the country.
With the acquisition, it also now becomes a player in real estate debt, a market in which iii-investments has been active in recent months.
