Editor’s Choice: Non-European dealmakers shake up ranking

PropertyEU’s annual ranking of the Top 100 Dealmakers in Europe has never before been as exotic as this year.

Our annual survey of the biggest investors in European real estate in 2014 counted no fewer than 34 names – or 34% - from outside Europe. North American investors accounted for 25% of the top 100 while Australia generated three new names in our overview. A string of investors from as far afield as Brazil, China, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait made up the remaining 9%.

The US contingent was even larger than the UK delegation which accounted for just 19% of the total this year. Indeed, no fewer than four US-based investors dominate the top-5 in terms of the most active investors in Europe over the 12-month period with a trio of American loan portfolio buyers in the top 3.

US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management emerged as the biggest dealmaker in Europe in 2014 after affiliates invested a staggering €17.7 bn in European NPLs, accounting for 22% of all closed commercial real estate and real estate-owned transactions.

Distressed debt investor Lone Star came a close second after forking out €16 bn for loan portfolios including Coeur Défense, the largest office complex in Europe, from the note holders of the busted CMBS supporting the tower.

US peer Blackstone likewise ranked prominently in our annual review of the leading dealmakers in Europe after spending more than €8 bn on loan portfolios and another €7 bn on real estate assets. Indeed, it seemed as if Blackstone was going at full throttle last year with a string of office acquisitions in virtually all major cities in Europe including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid, Barcelona, Hamburg, Luxembourg as well as retail assets in Milan, Rome and other Italian cities. It was also active on the logistics front with a string of major portfolio acquisitions by its European logistics platform Logicor.

CBRE Global Investors ranks 4th
CBRE Global Investors constitutes the fourth US player in the top 5 biggest dealmakers in Europe, pushing down AXA Real Estate even further in the ranking from the nr 1 position it has held for the past 3 years. But although the Paris-company slipped this year in the rankings, it lifted its investment volume by no less than 16% year-on-year. Other European insurance companies with a position in the top 10 were UK peer Legal & General Property and German insurance giant Allianz Real Estate.

In contrast to the strong performance of the non-European delegation, Germany delivered only 13 dealmakers this year in the top 100, followed by France with 11. But whereas US investors dominated our league of top buyers of real estate last year, European players were prominent in the league of vendors.

In total, seven European players featured in our ranking of the top vendors in 2014 with French retail REIT Klépierre in the lead with disposals of €2.5 bn. Klépierre's peer and Europe's largest listed real estate company Unibail-Rodamco was also a major vendor last year with €2.1 bn in disposals as it continued to streamline its organisation to focus on large dominant shopping centres.

Other notable sellers in 2014 included SEB Asset Management which disposed of 11 European offices in London, Paris, Hamburg, Milan, Brussels, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Gothenburg to a relatively new name - US-based North Star Asset Management. German open-ended fund manager SEB also sold a pan-European logistics portfolio to Blackstone while London-based Tristan Capital Partners spun off two major logistics portfolios it had acquired during the global financial crisis in big-ticket sales to P3 and Segro.

Is it time to stop?
Are you getting dizzy from all the names and numbers we are throwing at you? Bad news, we have much more in store! Our latest edition of Top 100 Investors, Dealmakers & Investment Locations contains a wealth of information on who the biggest players in European real estate were in 2014, where they invested and why. The good news is that the publication is available free of charge at MIPIM this coming week.

And that’s not all. PropertyEU's editorial team is proud to announce that we will be launching our new Top Investors app at MIPIM.

This year a record number of leading global investors took part in our annual survey and submitted their responses directly via our newly developed digital database. As a result, our latest edition of Top Investors, Dealmakers & Investment Locations 2015 – and the app - is fully up-to-date in terms of company information, transaction totals and deal overviews.

Our Top 100 Investors publication contains profiles and interviews with the leading real estate investors and dealmakers in Europe from around the globe including the US, Middle East, Asia and Brazil. And again, there’s more: our new Top Investors app contains well over 250 listings of the leading investors in European real estate.

Whether you’re heading to Cannes or not, take advantage of our special MIPIM offer and check out the app for free during the fair. And if you are in Cannes, swing by our PropertyTV team and say hello.

We look forward to seeing you – wherever you are from!

Judi Seebus
Editor in chief