GARBE Institutional Capital has acquired some 500 retail properties as it formalises a deal to buy GRR Real Estate Management meaning an extra €2 bn is being added to Garbe’s portfolio, taking it to €15 bn.
Approximately 80 staff are part of the transaction.
Andreas Freier, MD of GRR Real Estate, said: ‘With the transaction now closed, we are now officially part of the Garbe family of companies. Together, we will continue to expand our operational business to live up to our claim as market and innovation leader within the German food-anchored retail real estate segment.’
The portfolio stretches to 500 assets, but 50 are held on the balance sheet. Those have been bought by Garbe Institutional Capital on behalf of an institutional fund.
GRR Real Estate will remain an independent company within Garbe and will continue to do business under its established and well-known brand, the two firms said.
Thomas Kallenbrunnen, MD of Garbe Institutional Capital, said the successful closing meant it could now take the ‘next steps’ to strengthen and further develop GRR. ‘We are looking forward to working closely together with our new colleagues to establish the leading and vertically integrated platform for food-anchored retail real estate in Germany.’
Freier and Oliver Gross will continue as MDs of GRR Real Estate, with Thomas Kallenbrunnen, MD of GARBE Institutional Capital, serving as the subsidiary’s third MD for a transitional period. Martin Führlein, who has until now served as the third MD of GRR Real Estate Management GmbH, will now focus on his role as member of the executive board of GRR AG.
The buyer was advised on the transaction by Greenberg Traurig (legal), Gleeds Deutschland (technical due diligence) and HLB Stückmann (financial and tax), while the seller was advised by Rödl & Partner. The institutional fund was advised by Savills regarding property valuations.
