Rubik Properties has won a contract to manage the entire commercial real estate portfolio of Denmark’s biggest pensions firm PFA, worth DKK24bn (€3.2bn), in conjunction with property manager Cobblestone.
The portfolio, built up by the DKK720bn pension fund over a number of years, consists of just over 70 properties and includes nearly 40 multi-user properties, including The Union office hotel concept, a number of project properties and 26 head office buildings, according to Rubik.
The properties are primarily leased for office purposes, it said, with individual units leased for residential purposes.
The deal will more than double the real estate assets managed by the Copenhagen-based property investment manager to DKK40bn.
Peter Morgan, director of PFA Real Estate (PFA Ejendomme), said: “We look forward to the new collaboration with Rubik and Cobblestone, which will help to raise the quality and future-proof the portfolio.
“Good and efficient management of our properties ultimately helps to ensure stable and competitive returns for PFA’s 1.3m pension customers,” he said.
Jacob Smergel-Krog, Rubik’s chief executive officer, said his firm had a clear ambition to be the preferred manager for Danish institutional investors.
“The collaboration with PFA is fully in line with our strategy of entering into close strategic partnerships with Danish pension companies - just as we did with the acquisition of the DKK7bn AIFM-regulated property fund Commercial Real Estate Denmark [CRED] earlier this year,” he said.
The CRED portfolio consists of properties owned by several Danish pension funds.
Some 80% of PFA’s commercial property portfolio is located in Greater Copenhagen, including Copenhagen and North Zealand, with the rest located on Funen and in Jutland.
Rubik said it was setting up a new office in Aarhus because of this, allowing it to manage the portfolio from both Copenhagen and Aarhus.
The transfer of PFA’s property portfolio will also involve a business transfer of employees to Rubik and Cobblestone, the firms said.
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