Danish asset management firm Deas has agreed the acquisition of Nordea Bank's €3 bn property management arm, Nordea Ejendomme and said it plans to incorporate the business into its existing platform.
'Nordea Ejendomme is a really good match for Deas, and with the acquisition we take a big step towards becoming investors’ preferred business partner both within asset management and property management,' said Henrik Dahl Jeppesen, CEO of Deas.
Nordea Ejendomme manages a property portfolio of roughly DKK 22 bn (€3 bn) on behalf of Nordea Liv & Pension and other institutional investors including Tryg Forsikring, Dansk Ejendomsfond and DNP Ejendomme. The firm is Denmark's largest provider of commercial leases with 2,700 office, store and warehouse rentals encompassing a total of 1.5 million m2.
The transaction, which is expected to be completed before year-end, will bring capital gains of around €35 mln to Nordea Bank while reducing costs and revenues by €8 mln and €16 mln respectively a year. As part of the deal Deas is taking over Nordea Ejendomme's 90-people strong workforce.
'After selling Nordea Liv & Pension in Denmark last year, we see it as a natural step for Nordea to divest our property management for us to focus on our core business,' commented Snorre Storset, head of asset & wealth management at Nordea. 'With Deas we have found an owner who has the best prerequisites for further developing Nordea Ejendomme and servicing the company's customers, and also for making the investments necessary to be an attractive business partner for the future.'
Following the purchase Deas will manage a total portfolio of more than DKK 140 bn.
