Avignon Capital, the European commercial real estate investment and asset management firm, has announced a strategic partnership with Valon Group, a full service real estate company with 65 employees and four offices in Germany.
The partnership will see the pair build a portfolio across Germany of up to €500 mln gross asset value within the next three years.
Patrick Flaton, CEO of Avignon Capital, said: 'We’re absolutely delighted to team up with Valon and strengthen our presence in a key European market.
'Valon’s in-house services and local foothold made them a natural fit for a partnership of this nature and the macroeconomic climate in the region is extremely compelling.
'There is an opportunity to acquire at prices defined by slow world trade and a recovering global economy in a region which already offers lower purchase prices compared to many other A-locations.
'There is particularly strong demand for office space and the area is set to benefit from substantial infrastructure investment in the near future.'
The partnership will target industrial, logistics and office assets, with a focus on core and ESG-focussed value add strategies.
Avignon has recently created an ESG taskforce as part of its Brown to Green strategy, through which it will transform and reposition outdated and underinvested buildings into those with pioneering ESG credentials.
Valon will act as the local partner to deploy this strategy.
Oliver Oser, managing director of Valon Group, said: 'It is an exciting time for Valon. The new partnership with Avignon is an additional motivation and affirmation to continue on the path we have embarked upon.
'It will strengthen our growth initiatives and documents our vision on becoming the most advanced real estate service platform in the market.
'As ever our priority remains to provide a first-class service with tailored and specialised solutions to our clients.'
Valon was formerly known as Vistra Property Management as part of Vistra Group, but has since rebranded after being acquired by a new shareholder.
The UK, Germany and Netherlands make up Avignon’s core markets, which is headquartered in London. It manages around £1.4 bn of real estate and over 40 assets.
