Aviva Investors has acquired a research and office premises in the Netherlands for its continental European long lease fund.
The global asset management business of the insurer Aviva said it bought the asset located within the Utrecht Science Park for the Continental European Long Lease Strategy fund (CELLS).
The seller is Hanover Leasing, part of the Corestate Capital Group. No financial details were disclosed.
The centre, which has a total rentable area of around 18,000sqm, is fully rented to Nutricia Research, a subsidiary of Danone, the food company.
Matthias Hübner, the fund manager for long income in Europe at Aviva Investors, said: “The Danone Innovation Centre is a trophy asset that fits perfectly into the investment profile for CELLS, offering long-term, secured cash flows for our investors.
“We have now invested more than 90% of the fund’s available commitments, which demonstrates that we can consistently deliver on this CELLS strategy and invest our clients’ funds promptly and in accordance with the agreed investment guidelines. We continue to see strong interest from potential investors across Europe in CELLS based on our strong pipeline of selective European long-income transactions.”
Launched in 2017, the CELLS fund aims to deliver sustainable and secure yields on dividends of between 4% to 5% per year from properties with a lease term of at least 15 years.
It invests in continental European (ex-UK) properties with an initial focus on office, retail, logistics as well as social infrastructure and alternative sectors in Germany, Austria, Benelux and Scandinavia.
Daniel Lienhard, the head of transactions at Aviva Investors in Frankfurt, said: “This is the third investment by CELLS and follows our investment in an educational centre in Kristiansand, Norway, earlier this year.
Lienhard said the asset generates a stable income that is 100% index-linked to CPI and has a weighted average unexpired lease marginally below 15 years with an expiry in 2033.
“The Netherlands is a target market for the fund for secure long-income assets. Our local network allows us to source and quickly execute attractive transactions on and off-market in this region.”
