Berlin deal whets FDL's appetite

French REIT Foncière Développement Logements (FDL) is on the prowl for further acquisitions in Germany after purchasing a portfolio of 1,000 residential units in Berlin in April. The move, which marked the return of the French real estate investment trust to the acquisition trail, reflects the company's efforts to diversify its portfolio and consolidate its position in new markets.

'We are seeking to lift our exposure to the German market through acquisitions which help us diversify our portfolio geographically,' said managing director Thierry Beaudemoulin. 'Our target is to create new platforms for property and asset management first in Berlin and at a second stage in other southern German cities such as Munich, Frankfurt and Stuttgart.'

FDL, the residential arm of Foncière des Régions, has been active in Germany since 2006, building up a vast portfolio concentrated in the Ruhr region in the west of the country. In April, the company inked an EUR 84 mln purchase in the German capital with Austria's Conwert Immobilien Invest, reflecting a yield of 6.6%. The deal, which was 50%-financed with own equity and the remainder with debt, involved mostly historic buildings of architectural value offering a total of 80,000 m² in the districts of Charlottenburg and Mitte.

The full Deal in Depth article appears in the June edition of PropertyEU Magazine. Click on the link below to subscribe