Allianz Real Estate has acquired two office assets in Milan by taking over Blackstone's Italian closed-end investment fund 'Kensington' on behalf of German Allianz entities.
Financial details were not disclosed, but reliable market sources consulted by PropertyEU put the purchase price in the region of around €150 mln.
Assembled in 2015, the Kensington fund is managed by Kryalos Sgr and was sold by real estate funds controlled by Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe.
The two offices are located in Milan's Porta Nuova district and comprise 15,000 m2 in total. The smaller of the two assets, Porta Nuova 21, covering 4,800 m2, was sold to Blackstone for €20.8 mln in November 2015. The larger asset, Gioia 26, comprises 9,964 m2.
'Kensington provides Allianz with access to the type of property we find attractive when seeking stable returns for our customers: Milan as a gateway city and the underlying assets for the type of tenant they attract,' commented Mauro Montagner, CEO of Allianz Real Estate Southern Europe. 'We have a depth of experience managing properties for large global businesses. Alongside this, Allianz’s global portfolio is seeing increasing emphasis on flexible working environments.'
Gioia 26 (pictured), which is located at Via Melchiorre Gioia 26, hosts the Italian headquarters of General Electric, Gilead and Multi Corporation. The L-shaped nine storey property was certified LEED Platinum after a complete refurbishment in 2015.
Porta Nuova 21, which is located at Bastioni di Porta Nuova 21, hosts Spaces, a new flexible working format implemented by the Regus Group that targets new tech and media companies. The property was the former headquarters of Italian REIT Aedes.
Shearman & Sterling acted as legal advisor to Allianz.
Vitale&Co Real Estate provided financial advice to the vendor. Molinari Associati was Blackstone's legal advisor.
Allianz’s Italian portfolio, including direct and indirect investments, is worth around €2.5 bn. The office, retail and residential properties are mainly located in major cities such as Milan, Rome and Trieste.
The real estate arm of the German insurer is also active on the lending side in Italy.
Last month, Allianz Real Estate announced it was extending its €5 bn European debt strategy to the Italian market by co-financing CBRE Global Investor's acquisition of an office and retail development in Milan. The financing supports CBRE GI's acquisition of the development at Piazza Duomo 25 in downtown Milan.
