GLOBAL - London & Stamford Property, Almancatar, Invesco Real Estate, Peakside Capital, IVG Immobilien, DEKA Immobilien, Pramerica Real Estate Investors, Orchard Street Investment Management
London & Stamford Property has exchanged contracts with UBS Triton Property Fund to acquire One Carter Lane and Two Old Change Court in London for £75m (€84.5m).
The property occupies a prominent island site in the City of London, immediately to the south of St Paul's Cathedral.
Raymond Mould, chairman of London & Stamford Property, said: "Central London continues to show signs of economic growth, and we are delighted to have acquired this prime, City of London property producing a relatively high net initial yield reflective of the nature of the investment.
"The transaction also represents an excellent asset management and/or refurbishment opportunity at a time when there is forecast to be a shortage of good-quality buildings during a period of strong rental growth in the City."
In other news, Almancatar, the new investment firm established by Mike Hussey and Neil Jones, has made its first investment by acquiring 34-storey office tower Centre Point in London with financing from Eurohypo.
Michael Halcrow, finance director at Almacantar, said: "This was our first acquisition, so it was important we had a funding partner who understood our strategy and was going to be able to deliver in a timetable consistent with our acquisition timetable. Eurohypo performed strongly on both counts."
Meanwhile, Invesco Real Estate has acquired The Elektra, a 32-story apartment building in Manhattan, on behalf of an institutional client.
Todd Bassen, senior acquisitions director at Invesco Real Estate, said: "We are very happy to add the Elektra - a rare find with both market rate units and market rate taxes - to our New York City portfolio.
"This is the first multi-family property we've owned in Manhattan since 2004, and it meets Invesco's objective of acquiring in top-performing markets."
Peakside Capital, which was spun out of Bank of America Merrill Lynch global real estate business, has sold a residential complex in Berlin on behalf the Peakside Real Estate Fund I.
The 612-asset portfolio, which was acquired by the Peakside team in 2007 from a German mortgage bank, was sold to TAG Immobilien.
The proceeds will be used to invest in new opportunities across the European real estate market, with a particular focus on Germany and Central and Eastern Europe.
IVG Immobilien has sold two offices in France: Crystal Défense in Nanterre, near Paris and Campus Verrazzano in Lyon.
The former was acquired by an unnamed French investor while the latter was acquired by French real estate investment firm Sofidy.
Deka Immobilien has acquired a logistics property for approximately €22mn in Moerdijk, the Netherlands, from owner-occupier DSV. Deka Immobilien will integrate the property into a special fund.
Pramerica Real Estate Investors has recently completed seven transactions across Europe and Latin America.
They represent investment of more than €200m in office and retail assets and were carried out on behalf of special funds managed by Munich-based TMW Pramerica Property Investment.
Eric Adler, chief executive at Pramerica Europe, said: "One thing that differentiates Pramerica is the breadth of knowledge of the local European markets that is a perfect complement for the deep knowledge in Latin America, the United States and Asia."
Finally, Orchard Street Investment Management has acquired the Three Spires Shopping Centre in Lichfiend, England, on behalf of a pension fund client. The asset was sold by Hammerson.
John Humberstone, partner at Orchard Street Investment Management, said: "This centre is the prime shopping pitch in a cathedral city, with a prosperous catchment area, and it has some interesting asset management opportunities. We are confident it will achieve sustainable growth over the coming years."
