Alstria agrees EUR 36m office sale-and-leaseback

Alstria Office, an internally managed German Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), has agreed to acquire an office complex in Karlsruhe for EUR 36.2 mln. The asset will be leased back by the vendor, Württembergische Lebensversicherung, under a 15-year lease, securing the insurer's commitment to Karlsruhe for the long term.

Württembergische Lebensversicherung is a leading life insurance company in Germany and part of the W&W-Group, which has more than 6 million customers and ranks among the top 10 German insurance groups.

The office complex which is located in the city centre next to the Karlsruhe train station comprises around 30,000 m² of lettable area. The transfer of property and the start of the leaseback period are expected to take place during the course of the first quarter 2011.

Alstria Office was founded in January 2006 and converted into the first German REIT in October 2007. Headquartered in Hamburg, the company owns a diversified portfolio of properties across the German office real estate markets. Its current portfolio comprises 70 properties with an aggregate lettable space of 780,000 m² and is valued at EUR 1.4 bn.