Catella has finalised its debut transaction in the Benelux market, a sale and leaseback deal for an office and industrial asset in Zoetermeer, near The Hague.
he deal was executed through French SCPI real estate fund Upeka. The investment was completed at a net initial yield of 7.8% on a seven-year lease.
The firm said that the deal stemmed from Catella’s acquisition of a majority stake in France’s €1.4 bn AUM Aquila Group last year.
Catella Investment Management Benelux (CIMB) acted as an advisor on the transaction between the seller Midland and the French fund.
Midland is an affiliate of audiovisual consultancy company NFGD Zoetermeer BV, which has occupied the 2,400 m2 property since the late 1990s. Upeka is managed by Axipit Real Estate Partners, the real estate fund management company of The Aquila Group.
Ralph Willems, senior acquisition manager at CIMB, said: 'The Zoetermeer transaction was executed in a very short timeframe, particularly for a new market entry by an investment fund – from exclusivity at the end of November to a closing just before year end.
'We’re already seeing positive synergies emerging from the extension of Catella’s pan-European platform with the integration of The Aquila Group, following the UPÊKA fund’s first investments outside France in Spain and now in the Benelux.
'CIMB is actively looking for more commercial real estate investment opportunities in all three Benelux markets for UPÊKA and Catella’s French platform.
'These investments will typically be in offices, retail and/or (semi)industrial/logistic assets at ticket sizes in the €1.5 mln to €15 mln range and at higher ‘value-add’ yields compared with the typical €20 mln-plus transactions we’ve previously completed in the Benelux for Catella’s German institutional funds with their core to core-plus profiles.'
Prime Realty and AKD, tax and legal, together with PVM as technical consultants, also advised Upeka on the Zoetemeer transaction. Spring Real Estate and KDLP acted for the seller.
