Dutch investment manager Bouwfonds IM has completed the sale of the first and largest group of shares in its German residential funds in a transaction totalling 'a couple of hundred million euros'.
Bouwfonds IM said the buyer, whose identity was not disclosed, will acquire the portfolio with a new fund aimed primarily at German institutional investors.
Bouwfonds IM placed the Bouwfonds Germany Residential Fund (BGRF) series of funds between 2005 and 2008, making it one of the first Dutch investment managers to set up funds with German residential rental properties.
The move was triggered by research predicting an increasing shortage of affordable rented homes in and around major German cities. The series of funds, with an intended duration of at least 10 years for each fund, was placed with Dutch private investors. The total property portfolio consists of around 3,500 apartments spread across 50 properties in around 25 major German cities.
Bouwfonds IM was assisted with the transaction by Hamburg-based CT Legal, Frankfurt-based CBRE Capital Markets - Investment Advisory Services, Rechtstaete Amsterdam and Zuidbroek Notarissen Amsterdam and TMF Amsterdam. The vendor's advisers included CMS Leipzig and PwC Berlin.
