Aviva Investors’ continental Europe long-lease fund has made its second acquisition.
The asset management arm of the listed insurer Aviva said Continental European Long Lease Strategy Fund (CELLS) has bought an educational centre in Kristiansand, Norway for an undisclosed sum.
The vendor, SBB, will continue to undertake the property management for Aviva Investors.
The asset, which has a total rentable area of 15,800sqm, is fully rented to the Kristiansand municipality with a remaining rental period of 20 years.
The rental income amounts to over NOK19m (€2m) per year.
This is the second investment by CELLS which launched in the second quarter of 2017.
Matthias Hübner, the fund manager for Long Income Europe at Aviva Investors, said: “This transaction represents an attractive opportunity to invest in a very stable asset in the educational sector on a 20-year inflation-protected lease with a key Norwegian municipality.
”The Kristiansand asset represents a defensive investment with a long-term secured cash-flow, which fits perfectly into the investment profile for CELLS. We have now invested nearly 50% of the fund’s commitments, which demonstrates our ability to deliver on our European long-lease strategy.”
Hübner added that the firm remains in continuous talks a wide range of institutional investors, who have expressed an interest in the CELLS fund.
Daniel Lienhard, the head of transactions for Aviva Investors Real Estate Germany, said: “The Nordics are a target market for the fund as a source of secure long-income assets.
”We have a strong pipeline of selective long-income European real estate assets and are confident we will invest the remaining equity commitment over the course of 2018.”
