ActivumSG Capital Management’s (ASG) latest funds will target value-add real estate opportunities following the sale of the last office asset in Germany on behalf of a previous fund.
The turnaround specialist focused on European real estate said the sale highlights a shift in focus by ASG’s latest funds “onto corporate acquisitions as a way to access attractive value-add opportunities in German real estate.”
ActivumSG Real Estate Fund II sold the Theo & Luise building in Mannheim, 55 miles south of Frankfurt, to TLG Immobilien for €47.6m, a price that reflects a net initial yield of 5.9%, it said.
The 2011 vintage fund had purchased the 26,000sqm Grade A property from an affiliate of RBS, which had held it in a non-performing loan portfolio.
Saul Goldstein, a founder and managing partner of ActivumSG, said: “We are very cautious about direct property investments in Germany today.
“This sale ends a successful theme of early ASG funds, where we anticipated that repositioned assets in medium-sized German cities would attract institutional demand as the big seven cities got too competitive.
“Private equity investments or mezzanine lending generally appear the best way to access strong real estate themes in Germany for our newest funds, since their complexity allows us to avoid the crowds and to generate value-add returns for our investors.”
The Jersey-based real estate investment manager focused on Germany and Spain, announced in January that its fifth fund has attracted €489m of commitments from global investors at its final close for investing in Spain and Germany.
The fund started 2018 by acquiring fairvesta, a German real estate fund management platform for retail investors.
Its other investments include mezzanine financing for various developments in Berlin as well as residential development and land purchases in Spain.
