Italian listed property services firm Prelios is targeting the acquisition of a UK-regulated property firm as a way of gaining a foothold in the UK market, Prelios’ executives told PropertyEU in an interview during the EXPO REAL trade fair in Munich.
Italian listed property services firm Prelios is targeting the acquisition of a UK-regulated property firm as a way of gaining a foothold in the UK market, Prelios’ executives told PropertyEU in an interview during the EXPO REAL trade fair in Munich.
‘The Italian market is just too small. Our idea is to expand beyond Italy and Germany and to enter the UK through the acquisition of a UK-regulated company. This project will be submitted to Prelios’ board by the end of the year,’ commented Prelios’ deputy chairman Massimo Caputi, adding that the company plans to focus on regional cities rather than London, where prices are ‘extremely’ high.
Milan-based Prelios, which is currently engaged in a major sell-off of its Karstadt assets acquired in Germany together with other members of the Highstreet consortium, expects to see its property servicing business post a positive result this year for the first time since the onset of the financial crisis, Caputi added.
The Italian company is still in talks with Fortress Group on the integration of their real estate asset management and NPL platforms.