Dutch funeral insurer Dela has transferred its €121 mln housing portfolio to a fund managed by residential specialist Amvest in a move enabling it to concentrate on retail property.
Under the partnership agreement, Dela, which has a cooperative structure and has been investing in real estate since it was founded in 1937, has committed to investing in the Amvest Residential Core Fund (ARC Fund) over the next few years.
Dela’s real estate subsidiary manages assets worth a total €1.3 bn, mostly in the retail sector.
Over the past decade, the insurer has also built up a residential portfolio of 543 private-sector family homes but believes it can achieve better returns in this sector by teaming up with a specialist manager. Following the transaction with Amvest, Dela plans to concentrate fully on retail property.
Frank Hendriksen, chairman of the board at Dela Real Estate, commented: 'Dela has indicated that it wants a marked expansion of the proportion of residential investments in its investment mix. We’ve now built up an attractive portfolio of residential properties but we need to cooperate with outside parties in order to meet Dela’s ambition. After an extensive selection process, we’ve now opted for housing specialist Amvest as our partner for this. Its ARC Fund offers DELA access to a young and geographically diverse residential portfolio with a solid pipeline of new properties.'
Dela was advised on the deal by Finance Ideas and Houthoff Buruma, while Clifford Chance and PwC acted for Amvest.
