Bouwfonds buys three German assets

Bouwfonds Asset Management and Catella Germany on Thursday announced the acquisition of three assets in Germany for the pan-European residential fund Bouwfonds European Residential Fund. The transaction involves a total of around EUR 44mln. Located in Munich, Frankfurt and Kiel, the assets include 195 units of apartments and townhouses, as well as a handful of retail units with a total lettable area of 18,000 m². The two companies said in a statement that additional acquisitions are under consideration in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium. The joint venture partners also said they expect to raise more capital for the fund in the coming weeks.

Bouwfonds European Residential Fund is an open-ended Publikumsfonds targeting Gross Asset Value (GAV) of EUR 1-1.5bn in the next three years. The fund was launched under the responsibility of Catella Real Estate of Germany, which focuses primarily on equity acquisition and fund administration. Bouwfonds is responsible for fund performance through its local offices and will manage the assets.

Bouwfonds has already launched 12 residential investment funds in Europe and in the US, totalling a GAV of EUR 2bn.

The fund's portfolio focuses on middle-class family apartments and houses in city centre locations, residential suburbs and satellite cities of major agglomerations. It may also include other residential investment opportunities such as senior citizen housing, student housing or service apartments. Acquisitions will comprise new developments, existing real estate and redevelopment projects.