Swedish property adviser and fund manager Catella has joined forces with German independent investment manager Kriton Immobilien to launch a new asset management arm.
Catella said that the move is 'in response to growing demand for advisory services in professional real estate management for national and international investors'.
Catella Asset Management will operate in the market as a professional asset management services provider, focusing on office and retail properties as well as buildings earmarked for conversion into residential properties, with a focus on value-add operations in Germany’s high-growth regions.
'Kriton has specialised experience in identifying and leveraging the value-add potential of real estate,' commented Henrik Fillibeck, member of the Managing Board of Catella Real Estate. 'During the current market phase, high national and international demand for properties in the core segment with fixed long-term rentals has led to a price situation where the risk-return profile of properties with asset management potential is becoming increasingly more attractive.
'Not only does a regional presence with local expertise offer the opportunity to generate higher returns, it also increases investment security, because the value-add potential is leveraged at the outset for a foreseeable period. In this context, manage-to-core prospects unlock the potential to realise increases in value quickly. A service for third parties is that management fees generate regular income while profit sharing provides performance-related incentives.'
'In Catella, Kriton has joined forces with an experienced partner with international activities with whom major single investments as well as large portfolio deals can be realized,' added Andreas Hauff, one of the managing directors at Kriton. 'Catella supports our approach of applying proactive management, especially for investors without operational activities, by remodelling distressed properties, enhancing their rental potential and reselling them at a profit within a short to medium-term horizon.'
