German insurer Allianz has sold a portfolio of 190 office properties to the Whitehall Funds for EUR 1.7 bn. The move is in line with Allianz's strategy to rebalance its real estate portfolio and follows the sale of a tranche of properties worth some EUR 1.3 bn to IVG in August 2007. A spokesman for the insurer declined to say if the company would book a gain from the sale of the buildings, all of which are located in Germany.
German insurer Allianz has sold a portfolio of 190 office properties to the Whitehall Funds for EUR 1.7 bn. The move is in line with Allianz's strategy to rebalance its real estate portfolio and follows the sale of a tranche of properties worth some EUR 1.3 bn to IVG in August 2007. A spokesman for the insurer declined to say if the company would book a gain from the sale of the buildings, all of which are located in Germany.
The Whitehall Funds are real estate funds sponsored and managed by US investrment bank Goldman Sachs. The sale was signed on 20 December 2007 and is expected to be finalised in the New Year. 'This transaction enables us to reduce our over-concentration on buildings in Germany, and at the same time allows us to improve the structure of our remaining portfolio,' said Karl Ralf Jung, board chairman of Allianz Immobilien.
Allianz now holds real estate assets worth some EUR 4.5 bn and plans to increase that figure to around 7% of its total assets over the next few years from about 3% at present.
Jones Lang LaSalle advised Allianz on the transaction.
