CapitaLand has expanded its commercial real estate business beyond Asia by acquiring its first office building in Germany.
Singapore's largest private landlord announced on 29 December that it had acquired a freehold multi-tenanted office building, known as Main Airport Center (MAC), in Frankfurt, at an agreed value of €245 mln (S$392 mln).
The acquisition was carried out by a joint venture. CapitaLand holds a 94.9% stake in the joint venture, while Lum Chang Holdings, an unrelated third party, holds the remaining 5.1% stake.
Lim Ming Yan, president & group CEO of CapitaLand, said: 'The acquisition of MAC leverages the Group’s 15 years of experience in Germany and will add to CapitaLand Group’s network of commercial buildings in Asia. Besides key Asian markets such as Singapore, China, Japan and Vietnam, we also see significant investment opportunities in key gateway cities in Europe, Australia and the US.'
Lim added: 'We will remain aggressive but disciplined to reconstitute our portfolio and deploy capital to quality higher yielding assets while continuing to grow our recurring income base by strengthening our operating platforms and assets under management.'
MAC
MAC comprises 54,000 m2 of leasable space over 11 levels. The property is located close to the Frankfurt Airport, one of the top five busiest airports in Europe, and a 20-minute drive to Frankfurt’s Central Business District. It is also located in close proximity to several hotels near the airport.
CapitaLand said that the district where MAC is situated is an increasingly popular location for international and domestic companies, from varied industries such as aviation, logistics, technology, business services, consulting and healthcare.
Service apartments
CapitaLand’s serviced residence unit Ascott has been operating in Germany for 15 years and its real estate investment trust, Ascott Residence Trust, owns five properties with over 700 units across Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich. This includes the 165-unit Citadines City Centre Frankfurt, a 20-minute drive from the MAC.
Lee Chee Koon, group chief investment officer (designate) of CapitaLand Limited and CEO of The Ascott Limited, said: 'The freehold office building we have acquired is currently 84% occupied by over 30 quality tenants. Established international companies like Dell and Mastercard have set up their German headquarters there. Lufthansa has also headquartered its customer loyalty operations in the building.'
'MAC is expected to attain an occupancy rate of over 95% by June 2018 based on the leases already secured for next year. We will continue exploring the possibility of enhancing the property to further increase MAC’s value proposition for incoming tenants.'
CapitaLand
Headquartered and listed in Singapore, it is an owner and manager of a global portfolio worth S$85 billion as at 30 September 2017, comprising integrated developments, shopping malls, serviced residences, offices, homes, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and funds.
