Amundi has carried out its third office investment transaction in the Netherlands within six weeks, and this time it has reportedly paid about €10 mln less than what the building last traded at in 2010.
In the latest of its three investments in the Netherlands, the Paris-headquartered international asset manager acquired De Monarch I, an 18,000 m2 office building in The Hague, from Germany's Union Investment Real Estate.
The sale was announced by property adviser Savills that acted for Union Investment. The transaction volume was not disclosed but market sources told PropertyEU that it was in the vicinity of €65 mln. This would reflect a €10 mln discount to what Union Investment paid when it acquired the property on completion for €78 mln in 2010.
De Monarch I was designed by KCAP Architects & Planners and is located at 5-7 Beatrixlann in the central business district of The Hague. The building underwent redvelopment by developers Provast and ASR Real Estate Development in 2012 to transform it into a class A grade office building with a BREAAM-NL Excellent score. The entire building is leased to semi-public tenant CAK.
Savills Property management retains the contract to manage De Monarch I.
Amundi entered the Dutch office market in June with the acquisition De Rotterdam, a 44-floor mixed-use tower complex in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, for an estimated €350 mln - the largest single-asset investment transaction in Dutch real estate history. Amundi was acting on behalf of a Korean consortium. The vendor is the real estate arm of Dutch bank Rabo and Savills advised on the marketing and sales process.
'Following its purchase of De Rotterdam earlier this year the sale of De Monarch demonstrates Amundi’s keen interest in the Netherlands’ commercial property market. We expect an active six months to year-end with further large portfolio, and single asset sales across all sectors,' said Reinier Wegman, head of sales for Savills Investment in Amsterdam.
