Asset and property manager GPEP, acting on behalf of Universal-Investment's BVK-Deutschland I-Immobilienfonds-FMZ fund, has acquired the Lion 2.0 retail portfolio in Germany.
The package consisting of 16 discount stores, 9 supermarkets and 9 retail parks was sold by Habona Invest's Retail Funds 02 and 03.
Financial details were not disclosed. However, German press reports put the acquisition price at some €100 mln.
The buyer of the assets, BVK-Deutschland I-Immobilienfonds-FMZ fund, has the Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) as its only investor and is managed by Universal-Investment.
The portfolio is 99% leased and provides 60,000 m2 of total rental space primarily spread across the former West German federal states, with an emphasis on Lower Saxony, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia. On average, the properties are less than 8 years old and in good or very good condition.
'The Lion 2.0 portfolio includes properties with stable long-term leases and is therefore particularly suited as a complement to the Trade portfolio acquired at the beginning of the year. It also
serves for further risk diversification in terms of its geographical situation, tenant mix and the residual leasing terms,' said Herwart Reip, managing director of GPEP. 'With the acquisition of this portfolio, we have been able to almost completely reach the fund size envisaged by the investor and to meet the investor’s requirements in terms of investment volume and risk within a very short span of time.'
GPEP and Universal-Investment launched the €250 mln BVK-Deutschland I-Immobilienfonds-FMZ fund for BVK earlier this year. It also signed the off-market acquisition of the Trade retail portfolio at the time, involving 46 assets with 115,000 m2 of space. The vehicle is now 80% invested.
