Catalyst Capital, a London-based European real estate investment and asset management firm, has completed €81 mln of property transactions in Germany.
In three separate transactions, Catalyst has acquired Westfalen Retail Park (known as WEZ) in Dortmund for €26.1 mln and sold the E96 retail park in Bielefeld and the office building, City Gate, at Carl-Ulrich-Strasse 4 in Neu-Isenburg, near Frankfurt.
In Dortmund, Catalyst acquired the 20,150 m2 Westfalen Retail Park in Bornstrasse on behalf of Catalyst European Property Fund II (CEPF II). The vendor was Luximmo. The major tenants in the retail park include Aldi, DM, Deichmann, KiK and Takko.
'WEZ is a typical Catalyst Capital acquisition. We have bought a well-located and well-let investment, which offers the opportunity for us to apply our asset management skills to add value,' said Steven Jedlicki, head of Germany at Catalyst.
In Bielefeld, Catalyst sold the E96 retail park on behalf of Catalyst European Property Fund I to a public service pension scheme, managed by Savills Investment Management. The 10,000 m2 park was built in 1973 and extensively refurbished by Catalyst in 2015. It is now fully let and anchored by MediaMarkt and Edeka. The asset produces annual rental income of €1.5 mln, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 11 years. Henry Robinson Consulting advised Catalyst on the sale.
In Neu-Isenburg, Catalyst sold City Gate, an office building at Carl-Ulrich-Strasse 4 to a pension fund, managed by Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate. The property was acquired by Catalyst in partnership with an overseas investor in 2013. The 10,500 m2 building is multi-let. The biggest tenant is De’Longhi, the Italian small appliance manufacturer. Other tenants Postbank, Fortinet, Unicredit-Leasing.
NAI Apollo advised Catalyst on the sale. FPS Fritze Wicke Seelig provided legal advice and Crowe Horwath provided tax advice on all three transactions.
'The sales in Bielefeld and Neu-Isenburg came after we carried out extensive value-adding initiatives, transforming these properties into stabilised, income-producing assets suitable for institutional investors,' said Kean Hird, a partner of Catalyst.
Headquartered in London with offices in Frankfurt, Paris and Warsaw, Catalyst Capital has invested more than €5.8 bn in 60 real estate transactions in nine countries since it was founded in 1996. The firm currently has €1.5 bn of assets under management.
