Heavyweight domestic residential property investors dominated the ranking of top dealmakers in Germany during the first six months of 2014, according to data compiled by PropertyEU Research.
Heavyweight domestic residential property investors dominated the ranking of top dealmakers in Germany during the first six months of 2014, according to data compiled by PropertyEU Research.
Big-ticket residential portfolio deals of €100 mln accounted for at least €4.2 bn, or 32% of the overall German volume in H1.
Total transaction volumes for the period amounted to some €13 bn, according to figures from CBRE. The second quarter was particularly strong, ending just shy of €7 bn, an 18.7% increase on the April to end-June period last year.
Deutsche Annington, Germany's largest listed residential property investor was on its own responsible for over half of the spending on residential property. It invested €1.5 bn for 30,000 units held within Vitus, a vehicle which had been owned by a group of funds managed by Round Hill Capital, Blackstone, Deutsche Bank and Aviva. Deutsche Annington also invested €900 mln in 11,500 units held within the Dewag portfolio.
In a slightly larger deal, Vienna-listed Immofinanz paid €917 mln for the DGAG residential portfolio of 18,000 units in Northern Germany. The deal was part of Immofinanz's strategy to reposition and spin-off its Buwog residential business as the owner of high-yielding units in Germany and around the Austrian capital Vienna.
Alder Real Estate, a fast-growing German-listed residential investor, carried out another major deal by scooping up 7,721 residential and 490 commercial units units across Germany from Swiss turnaround specialist Corestate. However, the investment volume was not disclosed.
OFFICE AND RETAIL
Domestic investors were a major force in the office and retail sectors but they faced more competition from cross-border investors.
The largest office deal was led by German listed property group Patrizia Immobilien. In Q1 Patrizia completed the €1 bn acquisition of the Leo 1 portfolio on behalf of a fund for German-speaking insurance companies, savings banks and pension funds. Leo 1 consists of 18 office properties in the state of Hesse.
Blackstone Group underscored the growing reputation of Dusseldorf as an investment location by acquiring the four-office Portigon portfolio for €340 mln. The US investor also acquired the Sumatrakontor mixed-use building in Hamburg's HafenCity for €121 mln.
Unibail-Rodamco, Europe's largest listed retail property investor, has been keen to grow in Europe's largest economy for some time. The Paris-led company initially carved out a position there by taking over German shopping centre specialist Mfi in 2012. It enhanced its German holdings further in Q1 this year by taking 50% in the super regional shopping centre CentrO Oberhausen. The investment volume of €535 mln, or a yield of 4.4%, illustrated how keen Unibail-Rodamco was to join Canada's CPPIB in owning the prestigious centre.
Reflecting the mix of buyers in the retail sector, German fund manager Deka Immobilien bought the Neumarkt Galerie in Cologne for €295 mln, while Morgan Stanley paid €270 mln for the Christie portfolio of four shopping malls in the Berlin and Dresden regions, and Pramerica Real Estate Investors picked up two portfolios of grocery-anchored assets for €265 mln.
MULTI-COUNTRY
If further evidence of investor confidence was needed, four portfolio deals involving hotel and logistics assets in Germany and neighbouring markets took place in H1. In the largest of the four transactions global hotel group Accor bought back 86 hotels in Germany and the Netherlands in a reversal of its former asset-light strategy for €700 mln, while Apollo Global Management bought Ivanhoe Cambridge's Project Europe portfolio for €425 mln. Project Europe comprised 18 European hotels of which 13 are in Germany, with others in Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain operated under the IHG brands of Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.
In the logistics sector, Blackstone acquired a portfolio of 17 logistics assets in France and Germany for €473 mln. Almost matching this investment volume, UK REIT Segro purchased a portfolio of 10 logistics properties in Germany, three in Poland and one in France for €472 mln.