Henderson Park has entered the Italian property market with the acquisition of a €221m mixed-use portfolio in Milan.
The London-headquartered private equity real estate firm said it has bought the office-led portfolio of three assets from Italian utility firm A2A.
A2A currently occupies the properties and is due to fully vacate two of the assets immediately, with a planned departure from the third in around three years.
The assets include the 18,000sqm Corso di Porta Vittoria 4 six-storey office building, the Via Balduccio da Pisa 15 asset and the Via Gonin 51 asset in the San Cristoforo Navigli neighbourhood.
Henderson Park said it expects to reposition the properties in order to take advantage of “increasing demand from occupiers for new, prime, amenity-led office and residential accommodation with strong sustainability and wellness credentials”.
Henderson Park is partnering with Maston Investment Management the Italian investor and developer of office and residential properties, on the development of this portfolio.
Christophe Kuhbier, managing director at Henderson Park, said, the transaction provides the firm with immediate and meaningful exposure to the Italian market through the “acquisition of a portfolio of extremely well-located assets in Italy’s main financial centre, Milan”.
Kuhbier said: “We have identified a number of opportunities to unlock latent value from within the portfolio, both through our own asset management initiatives as well as by engaging with the wider regeneration and infrastructure improvement projects underway across the city.
“Milan has a constrained supply, with demand being driven by a growing and increasingly international occupier base, particularly for prime modern office space with strong environmental credentials.”
Eddy Cosenza, founding partner of Maston, said: “Henderson Park represents the perfect partner for us to work with to acquire and unlock the development potential in this unique portfolio, which I firmly believe is one of the most exciting investments in Milan.”
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