Italian insurer Generali’s property arm has completed the acquisition of International Business Centre (IBC), a prestigious office building in Prague, from Mint Investments for a price said to be around €70 mln.
The property was bought on behalf of the newly-launched Generali Real Estate Core Plus fund managed by Generali Real Estate S.p.A Sgr.
PropertyEU reported last month that Generali was planning the launch of a new European core-plus office property fund targeting a size of €2 bn.
The open-ended vehicle is the group’s first to pursue this risk-return investment strategy and has already raised €500 mln of equity commitments from the different insurance companies of the group, with a few third-party investors also in the final process of signing up. The vehicle is targeting total equity of around €1 bn which with leverage will allow it to build up a portfolio of roughly €2 bn over the near-medium term, with targeted returns in the 7-8% range.
Generali Core Plus Fund targets big-ticket office properties in the three digit range in the main European capital cities. The vehicle will focus both on assets with vacancies of up to 30% as well as on fully-let properties with short leases, generating immediate cash-flows to pay investors a yearly coupon as well as providing an opportunity to add value and extra returns in the long run. Main target cities include Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich as well as Milan, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, Warsaw and Prague.
The newly-acquired asset in Prague is located in the modern Karlín district next to the Florenc metro station. It was built in 1993 as one of the most distinctive office buildings in Prague. Since then, it was only partially renovated over time.
IBC offers around 24,000 m2 of office and retail space with a BREEAM certification.
Generali Real Estate currently manages a portfolio worth around €1.22 bn in CEE.
Generali Real Estate was advised by Cushman Wakefield, Clifford Chance, PwC and Sentient.
