Rockspring Property Investment Managers completed €850 mln of transactions in the German market during 2015, PropertyEU has learned.
Rockspring Property Investment Managers completed €850 mln of transactions in the German market during 2015, PropertyEU has learned.
The pan-European investment manager carried out €700 mln in acquisitions in the market. The retail warehouse sector in Germany continued to be its main focus, with Rockspring acquiring 40 warehouse assets in seven transactions.
Rockspring says its retail warehousing platform in Germany and Switzerland now amounts to over €2 bn, comprising over 100 retail units. This volume, Rockspring says, makes it the largest long-term foreign investor in this sector. During the year Rockspring also sold 10 assets in Germany for a total of €150 mln.
'While we saw rises in both pricing and institutional demand in 2015, we have been able to identify and execute attractive core-plus and value-add transactions for our funds, reflecting the level of our expertise on the ground in Germany,' said Stuart Reid, Rockspring partner overseeing the German market. 'Our appetite remains strong and we continue to source income accretive opportunities. In 2016, with the capital available to us, we will maintain a focus on the retail warehouse sector, and expect to increase our presence in the logistics and office sectors in the important German market.'
Top transactions
The largest transaction last year was the €350 mln acquisition of a portfolio of 23 German out-of-town retail warehouse assets from a joint venture between Capital & Regional and a real estate fund managed by Ares Management.
Other large deals carried out by Rockspring include the acquisition of Elisen Retail Park, Greifswald and a Real hypermarket in Frankfurt-Oder for €65 mln; the acquisition of the 41,500 m2 Südring Centre in Berlin, and the purchase of a 15-hectare logistics site in Berlin Schönefeld as part of a joint venture with Verdion. Construction of 25,000 m2 in phase 1 has commenced including the pre-letting of 6,000 m2 to Dachser logistics.
Rockspring is a specialist in the acquisition and management of commercial property in the UK and Continental Europe. It acts on behalf of institutional clients, either directly for single-client accounts or through its co-mingled funds. The company had gross assets of €8 bn in funds under management and undrawn commitments at end-September 2015.
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TOP INVESTORS
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PropertyEU is currently compiling its ranking of Top Investors based on transaction volume in 2015. The ranking is based on a survey questionnaire sent to investors and reports such as above by investors on real estate acquisitions and disposal volumes.
Haven’t received a survey request? Please send information on total investment and disposal volumes, plus a list with details of top deals, to Deals Editor Cormac Mac Ruairi at research@propertyeu.info
The ranking is published in March 2016.
