A new institutional real estate fund launched on behalf of Germany’s largest pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) has acquired FMZ Stadlau retail park in Vienna from a core-plus fund advised by Tristan Capital Partners for €39 mln.
Tristan’s Curzon Capital Partners III (CCP III) sold the park to the new fund, which aims to primarily invest in Austrian retail parks in established locations. It is managed for BVK on the Luxembourg AIF platform of Universal-Investment.
'Tristan has established FMZ Stadlau as a premier retail destination,' said Jean-Philippe Blangy, head of asset management at Tristan Capital Partners.
'By securing longer leases with institutional quality tenants, improving the infrastructure and capitalising on the strategic location with its excellent transport links, we successfully implemented our strategy by repositioning the multi-let property into a long-term core investment product.'
Covering 26,000 m2, FMZ Stadlau's retailers include Betten Reiter, Media Markt and Merkur. The park is also adjacent to IKEA and Obi.
'Austria stands out as an interesting investment market for this subsector. We especially like the defensive nature of food-anchored retail,' said Norman Fackelmann, head of real estate investment management at BVK.
CCPIII acquired FMZ Stadlau in September 2012. The transaction marks the second acquisition by BVK from a Tristan fund.
Tristan was advised by the Austrian teams of Taylor Wessing and PwC. Universal-Investment was advised by EY, CHSH, NRF and JLL.
