Blackstone has completed the €3.3 bn acquisition of the OfficeFirst platform in Germany from IVG Immobilien and appointed a new management board.
Acquired on behalf of Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe IV, OfficeFirst owns a 100-asset portfolio of around 1.5 million m2, more than 90% of which is located in Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf and Berlin.
Michiel Jaski, Oliver Priggemeyer and Fabian John, respectively CEO, COO and CFO of OfficeFirst, have decided to leave now that the sale has been completed. They are being replaced by former IVG board members Guido Piñol and Jonas Kriebel, with Piñol as CEO.
Both Piñol (photo 1) and Kriebel (photo 2) served on the board of IVG Immobilien before co-founding Frankfurt-based investment management firm, Quincap Investment, in 2014. Previously, Piñol was managing director of Fortress Investment Group in Germany, and held leadership positions with CBRE and JLL.
The acquisition by Blackstone's fund was signalled on 8 November 2016. While Blackstone did not disclose the investment volume, at the time PropertyEU reported a source close to the deal as saying around €3.3 bn was paid for the portfolio and its underlying platform.
Commenting on the closing of the deal on 31 March, Anthony Myers, Blackstone's head of Real Estate Europe, said: 'Blackstone will work with OfficeFirst to support the company's continued growth and focus on value maximising strategies across the portfolio. We will continue to deploy capital in Germany's most dynamic gateway cities across the commercial and residential real estate sectors, making use of the breadth of skills and expertise at OfficeFirst.'
Blackstone's real estate business was founded in 1991 and has around $102 bn (€96 bn) in investor capital under management. The real estate portfolio includes office, retail, industrial, hotel, and residential properties in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Its German portfolio includes the Messeturm and Pollux skyscrapers in Frankfurt, Treptowers in Berlin, the Sumatrakontor in Hamburg, as well as the Loopsite office complex in Munich.
