Bilfinger Real Estate has completed the disposal of the Pegasus commercial real estate portfolio, raising proceeds of €1.5 bn over six years on behalf of RBS.
The package comprised 28 office and retail assets providing 433,000 m2 of space located throughout Germany.
The assets were sold in several transactions to various institutional and private buyers, with the largest deals including the disposal of Die Welle office tower in Frankfurt and Neues Kranzler Eck in Berlin, which were sold in 2012 to Axa Real Estate und Norges Bank Investment Management for a total of €784 mln, as well as the sale of the Herold Center in Norderstedt near Hamburg, which was sold in 2012 to Deutsche Euroshop for €176 mln.
Bilfinger confirmed on Monday that the last of the 28 assets was handed over on 29 February.
Bilfinger Real Estate has been responsible for owner representation, repositioning, rentals and sale of the 28 office and retail properties since 2010, when RBS took ownership of the portfolio from Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing.
MSREI's P2 Value German property fund bought the assets in May 2007 from Union Investment Real Estate for a price believed to be around €2 bn, in a highly-geared deal financed by RBS.
With the onset of the financial crisis and the collapse of the German property market, MSREI was forced to hand ownership to RBS in April 2010.
Over the past six years, Bilfinger Real Estate, together with RBS and other service providers, has managed the renting out of 226,000 m2 of floor space in the portfolio as well as investments in rental space expansion and cap-ex measures totaling €66 mln.
Ola Bernow, head of Real Estate Germany at the Royal Bank of Scotland said: 'We successfully stabilised the real estate portfolio, ensured an optimal position in the market, and sold it in a favourable investment environment.'
Ralf Klann, managing director at Bilfinger Real Estate and head of Asset Management Germany added: 'For the stabilization and value enhancement of the portfolio, we pursued a comprehensive strategy and focused on four core objectives: the right positioning for the properties on the market, increasing and securing rental income over the long term, reduction of ongoing property operating costs and the optimization of the service structure as well as the successful disposition.'
