Global alternative investment manager Castlelake has agreed the sale of BoStad, a major Danish residential property company with 1,750 rental units in major cities across Denmark.
The platform was acquired by AP Pension for a price said to be “several billions of DKK”.
Castlelake became the majority shareholder of the residential property company in April 2019 and has since guided its transformation through accretive strategic and operational initiatives to position the company as a premier developer and manager of Danish residential properties. These initiatives have included installing an experienced management team, restructuring the company's financing and selling non-core assets as well as adding new high-quality residential assets to the company's portfolio.
‘When we acquired what is now known as BoStad in 2019, we saw an opportunity to unlock its potential by simplifying its capital structure and optimizing its team and portfolio,’ said Evan Carruthers, managing partner and Chief Investment Officer of Castlelake. ‘We were pleased to be able to invest in these high-quality assets and congratulate AP Pension on its acquisition of what we believe to be a differentiated company and asset portfolio.’
Castlelake has a strong history of investing in Europe, where it has acquired more than 7,000 assets across 12 European countries since its founding in 2005. Castlelake's experience investing in European land and real estate includes an investment in Millenium Hotels Real Estate, a listed real estate investment company that specializes in luxury hotel properties in Spain and Portugal; Prodea Investments, the largest Greek real estate investment company; and Aedas Homes, one of the largest Spanish homebuilders.
CBRE acted as sole financial and real estate advisor to Castlelake for this transaction.
CBRE’s Benjamin Rouah who led the transaction in his role as head of Real Estate Investment Banking, Continental Europe, CBRE Capital Advisors commented: ‘This is another landmark deal for CBRE’s European Capital Markets business and represents the largest CRE transaction in Denmark in 2021. We are delighted to have acted as financial and real estate advisor to Castlelake and utilise our global platform to deliver a successful transaction for our client. The sales process involved bids from three continents, and the interest for the platform is testament to the volume of capital available to invest in sizable opportunities in the residential sector.’
