Real estate asset manager AEW has bought a mixed-use asset in Finland for €108.5m from the listed department store chain Stockmann.
AEW said it bought the Atlas building in Helsinki on behalf of its Europe City Retail Fund, which was launched in 2015 to focus on high quality, income-producing assets in European tier-one and capital city centres.
The property comprises 8,460sqft of fully occupied lettable area. The ground and basement floors are restaurants and retail space. The upper four floors consist of 2,500sqft of office space.
Christina Ofschonka, the portfolio manager of Europe City Retail Fund, said: “Atlas is one of the best known and located properties in Helsinki in terms of accessibility, footfall prominence and visibility, and has an attractive income profile as well as asset management potential, which makes it the ideal asset with which to re-enter the Finnish market.
“Finland has a fundamentally strong and resilient economy and consumer confidence is currently among the highest in Europe.”
The acquisition is AEW’s first investment in Finland since the global financial crisis. The acquisition of the Atlas building brings the fund’s portfolio to 11 assets across 8 cities, including Madrid, Paris, Milan, Dublin and Copenhagen, with a total value of around €500m.
