European real estate investment and asset management firm Catalyst Capital has acquired a retail park near the German city of Cologne for €55 mln.

European real estate investment and asset management firm Catalyst Capital has acquired a retail park near the German city of Cologne for €55 mln.

Catalyst purchased the Erft Karree Kerpen retail park, 25 kilometres east of Cologne, in partnership with an overseas investor who is targeting assets in Germany, UK and France. The vendor was the Aachen-based Nesseler Grünzig Group.

The 55,000 m2 retail park was constructed in phases from 2010 to 2012 and mainly comprises single-storey units. Major tenants include OBI (DIY), Saturn (consumer electronics), Roller (furniture), Staples (office supplier), Intersport, and dm (drugstore). The weighted average unexpired lease term is 8.5 years.
Catalyst said it intends to work closely with the local municipality to grow the centre.

Erft Karree Kerpen is the third property acquisition that Catalyst has completed with its new overseas partner. Last year the partnership acquired Carl-Ulrich-Strasse 4, an office asset in Neu-Isenburg, for €20 mln and, two months ago, it purchased Eschersheimer Landstrasse 50, a prime office building in Frankfurt, for €16 mln.

Kean Hird, the Catalyst partner responsible for the German and Polish regions, said: 'This is a classic Catalyst Capital acquisition. We are buying a well-located and well-let investment, which offers the opportunity for us to apply our asset management skills to add value through driving rental uplifts, repositioning some units and developing new units on vacant plots.'

NAI Apollo introduced the deal to Catalyst. FPS was the legal adviser and Crowe Horwath consulted on tax issues.

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