Four large portfolio transactions in the UK accounted for almost 40% of the European volume during March 2014.
Four large portfolio transactions in the UK accounted for almost 40% of the European volume during March 2014.
The UK was the most active market, with a volume of €3.3 bn, or 38% of the total. The largest transaction by far was London-listed Intu Properties buying three shopping centres in the UK from Australian developer-owner Westfield and its partners for over €1 bn.
The property arm of UK financial group Legal & General was the most active buyer during March as it carried out five investments, including two very large ones, totalling €1.2 bn. On 6 March Legal & General Property (LGP) pulled off the second largest deal in March by acquiring a 55-asset portfolio of bank units, offices and industrial sites in the UK from Telereal Trillium for €665 mln. LGP also acquired 4,000 UK homes from Places for People for €300 mln. Its largest single asset transaction was buying a shopping centre in Dundee from UK REIT Land Securities for €150 mln.
In the fourth-largest UK deal over the month, UK REIT LondonMetric acquired 27 assets, leased to UK furniture retailer DFS, from the liquidator for €210 mln. The combination of these large portfolios deals comes to €2.2 bn, 67% of the recorded total for the UK of €3.3 bn.
The largest portfolio deal in Continental Europe saw US private equity giant Blackstone acquiring 17 logistics assets from French REIT Fonciere des Regions for €473 mln.
Based on reported commercial real estate transactions above €20 mln, PropertyEU Research tracked over 60 investments totalling €5.8 bn in Europe in March.
An analysis of European real estate investment activity in the first quarter of 2014 appears in the May edition of PropertyEU Magazine.
