Industriens buys Europahuset in Aarhus from Standard Life

Industriens Pension has bought an office tower in Aarhus.

The DKK150bn (€20bn) Danish pension fund for industrial workers said it bought Europahuset (Europe House) in the country’s second-largest city for an undisclosed amount.

The seller is reportedly Standard Life, although the UK asset manager could not confirm the sale.

The building has 10,000sqm of office space and is located centrally in the Jutland city of Aarhus – Denmark’s second-biggest city.

Peter Frische, head of property investment at Industriens Pension, said: “We are really pleased we managed to buy one of the most distinctive properties in Aarhus.”

With the renovation of the square, the proximity to shops and cafes by the river, the Dokk1 cultural centre, the light rail network, as well as the planned future development of the area, the location was getting better and better, he said.

The investment is an important step for Industriens Pension’s continued strategic goal of building a large property portfolio with a focus on Aarhus and Copenhagen, he added.

Over the next few years, the pension fund said it planned to invest DKK5bn in Danish properties.

Right now, Industriens Pension has DKK7.6bn invested in real estate.

The pension fund said cafe chain Dalle Valle was opening a restaurant on the ground floor of the Europahuset building in a few months’ time, with outdoor seating on the square.

CBRE sold the building to UK asset manager Standard Life in 2015 for DKK234m.

The firm Capital Investment completed the development of the building in the last year for one of its foreign customers, Industriens Pension said, adding that CBRE was responsible for the rental and sale of property.

The pension fund said it bought the asset to give a return of around 4.6%, though the price of the deal was confidential.

Separately, Standard Life Investments’ €300m European Real Estate Club III vehicle has bought three adjoining mixed-use buildings in Copenhagen.