Erste Asset Management, part of Austrian banking group Erste, has purchased an office property from Union Investment in Budapest.

krisztina palace

Krisztina Palace

The investment volume for Krisztina Palace was not disclosed.

The 18,000 m2 property, which is situated in the Buda district, was acquired in 2008 for around €60 mln as a development project for Union Investment's open-end real estate fund Unilmmo: Global. Its sale marks the fund's exit from Hungary.

The property has been purchased by the Erste Open-Ended Real Estate Investment Fund, managed by Erste Asset Management.

'An attractive property in a first-class location, the office property Krisztina Palace is another quality addition to our extensive portfolio in Budapest,' commented Balazs Pazmany, head of the board at Erste Asset Management. 'With its excellent tenant structure, the property meets the criteria of the Erste Open-Ended Real Estate Investment Fund perfectly.'

The BREEAM Very Good certified property was fully occupied as of the sale date. Its largest tenants include pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, the airline Emirates and the IT firm Eaton Enterprises. Restaurants and retailers occupy the ground floor.

Unilmmo: Global holds assets in 12 different countries in America, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe, worth a total of around €3.16 bn. The fund recently acquired its first property in Sweden in the office property Stockholm Hub.

CBRE brokered the fund's latest transaction and legal firm CMS provided legal advice.