A new data centre fund is being launched less than two weeks after the creation of a €2bn data centre development joint venture between ACS and Blackrock’s Global Infrastructure Partners.
MEAG, the asset management arm of Munich Re, has announced the launch of the MEAG Volante DC Investor SCSp fund focused on European data centers. Founding investors include Siemens Financial Services (SFS) and Munich Re with the vehicle being open to additional professional investors.
The fund has been seeded with a portfolio of Vantage Data Centers assets.
“The growing demand for digital infrastructure continues to create significant momentum,” says MEAG’s managing director Heiko Wunderlich. “We are very pleased to have gained the Siemens Group as a strong partner and are convinced that this close and trusted cooperation forms an excellent foundation for the fund’s growth strategy.”
Dominik Damaschke, head of Infrastructure Equity at MEAG adds: “Since 2022, MEAG has invested around one billion euros in digital infrastructure – particularly in data centers – thereby building a strong competence center for this sector. We are applying this expertise specifically to the further development of the fund.”
The news follows the creation of a partnership between MEAG and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC in late 2024 to invest a combined €1.4bn into Vantage’s EMEA data center platform.
Also this week, PPHE Hotel Group announced plans to undertake a strategic review ahead of a potential sale of the business. The company said that it is “not in any active discussions with any potential offeror” at this time but it has invited expressions of interest from various parties to “understand the full potential of the company”.
In the recently completed loan section, Cain secured a £350m refinancing from funds and accounts managed by KKR for a 3.2 million sqft UK Industrial & Logistics portfolio, with the deal being structured as a whole loan over a five-year term.
The entire portfolio has been delivered on a net-zero carbon basis.
| Recently completed deals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
| supermarket portfolio | retail | UK | Blue Owl Capital | Asda | NA | £467 (€531) | The portfolio comprises 20 freehold supermarkets, nineteen of which operate as omnichannel stores, together with one distribution centre. |
| Braehead Shopping Centre | retail | Glasgow | Frasers Group | SGS UK Retail | 1.1m sqft | ~£220 (€250) | |
| 65 Clifton Street | office | London | Hines | HB Reavis | 139,000sqft | £185 (€211) | The asset is 97% leased to occupiers including Wise, a global technology company, and Frontier Economics. |
| The Lexicon in Bracknell | retail | Bracknell, UK | Realty Income | Schroder Capital UK Real Estate Fund and Legal & General Capital | 1,000,000sqft | £150 (€170) | Principal tenants include Marks and Spencer, Primark, Next, JD and Fenwick. |
| student housing portfolio of 3 residences | living | Spain | Greystar | Merkel Capital | 1,200 beds | ~€140 | The assets are located in Pamplona, Sabadell and Seville. |
| Insight | office | Paris | Aermont Capital | DWS | 22,628m2 | €140 | The asset was formerly the headquarters of BPRI and has been part of the DWS-managed fund grundbesitz europa since 2017. |
| last-mile portfolio of 13 assets | logistics | Italy | Kryalos | Logiman | 107,000m2 | €128 | The portfolio includes 11 standing assets and two development projects. |
| 50% share in the Oracle mall | retail | Reading, UK | Hammerson | Abu Dhabi Investment Authority | 758,885sqft | £104.5 (€119) | The asset is 97% occupied. |
| Asda retail portfolio | retail | UK | DTZ Investors | Asda | NA | £101 (€115) | The portfolio is the latest to be sold by Asda through sale and leasebacks. |
| portfolio of 4 assets | mixed | Copenhagen | Jeudan | PFA Pension | 17,200m2 | €110 (DKK820) | PFA is selling its office to refocus on residential assets. |
| 6 food production facilities | logistics | UK, Czech Republic and Slovakia | WP Carey | Valeo Foods | 111,500m2 | €88 | The portfolio is subject to 25-year, triple-net countrywide master leases, with annual CPI-based rent increases. |
| portfolio of 2 assets with 318 apartments | living | Växjö and Kalmar, Sweden | Bonäsudden Fastighets AB | Smålandsvist | 21,600m2 | €61 (SEK676) | The properties were completed in 2023 and 2022 respectively and generate SEK40m in annual rents. |
| apartment block | living | Paris | CDC | Ofi Invest | 6,500m2 | €60 | The asset offers 139 apartments. |
| PR1 unit at Park Royal | logistics | London | Tritax London Logistics Fund | Patrizia | 62,000sqft | £43.9 (€50) | The unit is let to Classic Fine Foods. |
| two resi assets | living | Cambridge | Invesco Real Estate | Hill Group | 109 units | £40 (€45) | The first building is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, while the second building is scheduled for handover in the third quarter of 2026. |
| business park | logistics | Feldkirchen, Munich | Sirius Real Estate | NA | NA | €43.7 | Feldkirchen business park currently generates €3.4m of annualised rent roll per annum and is 94% occupied. |
| multi-tenant business park | logistics | Hamburg | Sirius Real Estate | NA | NA | €32 | The multi-let property is 89% occupied. |
| Palazzo dei Cigni | mixed | Milan | Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele | Kryalos | 44,000m2 | €30 | The asset is fully leased. |
| 17-building residential estate | living | Berlin | EQT Real Estate, Pictet Alternative Advisors | NA | 34,000m2 | NA | The asset encompasses 477 residential units. |
| real estate portfolio | mixed | Berlin, Brandenburg | Dunman Capital | Dupuis | 25,000m2 | NA | The properties are divided into roughly 60% residential and 40% commercial space. |
| Torre Oriente | office | Lisbon | Sonae, Bankinter | Union Investment | 27,600m2 | NA | Union bought the asset in 2019 for €70m. |
| two PBSA assets | living | Edinburgh and Glasgow | Henderson Park | Alumno Group | 453 beds | NA | Henderson Park is forward funding the two projects which will be delivered by Alumno Group. |
| Kavci Hori Office Park | office | Prague | Conseq group | CA Immo | 42,300m2 | NA | The asset generates an annual gross rental income of around €7.7m. |
| Assets on the market | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
| PPHE hotel group | hotel | Europe | PPHE shareholders | NA | £2200 (€2500) | Rothschild & Co | The group’s UK portfolio includes the likes of Art’otel London Battersea, Art’otel London Hoxton, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge and Park Plaza Riverbank. |
| NEC UK events business | alternative | Birmingham | Blackstone | NA | £1000 (€1140) | NA | The private equity firm plans to kick off the process to sell the complex in March after the expected completion of a refinancing in February. |
| Hotel Flamingo Resort | hotel | Sardinia | Italian private family | 250 rooms | €50 | Colliers | The four-star hotel is located in the South of Sardinia. |
| Sacred Heart Residence | living | Dublin | The Little Sisters of the Poor | 199,543sqft | €20 | Avison Young | The asset includes an 85-bed registered nursing home and 26 independent-living apartments. |
| Recently completed loans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
| Bond investors | Vivion | Unsecured | €757 | The issue comprises a €505m bond maturing in 2030, carrying a coupon of 5.625%, and a €252.5m hybrid bond with a coupon of 8.125%. |
| Bond investors | Axa Logistics Europe | Unsecured | €500 | The issue was subscribed 6.2 times. |
| KKR | Cain | UK industrial and logistics portfolio | £350 (€398) | The new facility, which is structured as a whole loan over a five-year term, fully redeems the existing development loan. |
| NatWest, Santander and HSBC | Harworth Group | Unsecured | £275 (€313) | The new four-year facility replaces Harworth’s existing £240m loan and extends its debt maturity by two-and-a-half years. |
| Natwest | Vivid | Social rent home portfolio | £100 (€114) | The 10-year loan is set to support the delivery of an additional 450 social rent homes across the country. |
| Aareal Bank | Scape | Leeds PBSA asset | £66.5 (€76) | The refinancing restructures existing debt associated with the £100m development. |
| Aviva Investors | Valor Real Estate Partners | logistics unit in Enfield, North London | £32 (€36) | The facility is in line with LMA’s green loan principles and has been made through Aviva Investors’ multi-sector private debt long-term asset fund. |
| Novo Banco | RCP Finance | Azores hotel project | €20 | The facility will finance the construction of a 4-star ecolodge. |
| Deutsche Hypo – NORD/LB Real Estate Finance | Hines | Nexus San Fernando asset in Madrid | €18 | The loan has a term of five years. |
| Pbb | Greystar | student housing portfolio in Spain | NA | The acquisition finance is secured by over 1,200 beds. |
| New mandates/JVs and funds on the market | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | Fund/mandate/JV | Strategy | Details |
| Stoneweg and BGO | Spanish residential investment JV | Developing residential assets in Spain | Stoneweg’s recently inaugurated Bext Valdebebas complex, which has 583 units including studios and one and two-bedroom apartments, will serve as the first asset for the joint venture. |
| The partnership has a planned total investment of €500m over the next years. | |||
| Arrow Global | Arrow Lending Opportunities Fund I | Providing finance secured by European real estate with an opportunsitic profile | Arrow Global has secured €1.5bn (€1.3bn) in capital commitments for its European real estate lending strategy. |
| The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority made a $400m commitment. | |||
| Tritax | Tritax London Logistics Fund | Investing in London logistics assets | The fund has raised £204m of new capital from global investors of CBRE Investment Management’s Indirect Strategies platform. |
| MEAG | MEAG Volante DC Investor SCPs | Investing in European data centres | Part of Vantage’s data centre portfolio is seeding the fund. |
