Patrizia Immobilien is seeking to gain a presence in the Spanish market with the creation or takeover of a local team as part of plans to become a pan-European asset management group, PropertyEU has learned.
Patrizia Immobilien is seeking to gain a presence in the Spanish market with the creation or takeover of a local team as part of plans to become a pan-European asset management group, PropertyEU has learned.
'Patrizia is looking into Spain to set up its next country platform. In this context we are speaking to individuals as well as teams to join our group, but there is no final decision yet,' Wolfgang Speckhahn, head of strategy and corporate development at Patrizia Immobilien, told PropertyEU.
Even though there is no fixed timeline for the move, Speckhahn said he is confident that the company will be able to open the Spanish office by the end of the year.
Patrizia, which recently emerged as the fastest-growing real estate investment manager in PropertyEU's ranking of Top 100 Investors in Europe, has been looking to expand its reach in Europe’s core markets for the past three years.
The Augsburg-based company recently established an office in The Netherlands with the hiring of Gaston Hupkens and Peter Helfrich. Earlier this year it poached ING REIM's managing directors in France, while last year it entered the UK with the purchase of London-based real estate investment and asset management company Tamar Capital Group. The company also has a presence in Luxembourg and the Nordics, with operations in Denmark and in Sweden.
DOUBLING AUM
In the past 18 months, Patrizia has seen its assets under management more than double to €12 bn following three mammoth acquisitions in Germany. Patrizia is also seeking to expand its foreign investor base which has almost doubled in the past 18 months, CEO Wolfgang Egger recently told PropertyEU. 'Patrizia can act as an intermediary - not only between German or foreign capital and real estate markets and vice versa, but also between different foreign European markets. Institutional investors are increasingly recognising the advantage of this.'
In 2012, Egger said he aimed to boost Patrizia's AUM to €10 bn by 2015. That target has already been exceeded. The company is on course to grow its portfolio from €11.8 bn to €14 bn this year, having acquired €1.2 bn of assets in Q1 of 2014.
