Internos Global Investors is acquiring an office tower in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam for €46 mln.
Internos carried out the transaction on behalf of the ICE Office+ fund, a balanced, geographically diversified office property fund with long-term value stability. The focus of the investment strategy is on first-class European properties in excellent locations. The target volume of the fund is €600 mln across approximately 20 assets. Including the latest acquisition, some €210 mln has been invested in eight properties in Amsterdam, Lisbon, Milan, Paris, Rotterdam and Toulouse.
Wilhelminatoren
Wilhelmina Tower (Wilhelminatoren) is a prominent building with a total lettable area of 15,485 m2. Built in 1997, it is located at Wilhelminaplein 1-40 in the Kop van Zuid business district, one of the most sought-after residential and office areas in Rotterdam. The building’s occupiers benefit from excellent public and private transportation links, with tram and metro stations located adjacent to the building.
The vendor of Wilhelminatoren was PPF Real Estate, the €2 bn European and Russian landlord owned by Czech entrepreneur Petr Kellner. PPF bought the office tower in 2014 for a reported €29 mln from the portfolio of an Israeli investor who had run into financial problems. PPF renovated the building and concluded several new leases, including agreements with co-working provider Tribes and APL Logistics.
Comment
Sebastian Lietsch, fund manager of the ICE Office+, commented: 'The combination of high demand for this type of office space in Rotterdam and lack of supply means there is the potential for future rental growth, which will convert to long-term stable income for investors in the fund.
'We have a strong pipeline of assets for the fund and are currently working on two further acquisitions with a total volume of €92 million, also located in major European cities'.
Tia van Beek, head transactions for Internos in the Netherlands, said: 'We are currently seeing strong momentum in the Dutch office market created by a weight of foreign capital looking for opportunities not only in Amsterdam but also in the other major cities like Rotterdam. Wilhelmina Tower is an excellent example of this'.
Paul Muno, head of capital relations at Internos, added: 'The acquisition of this landmark property not only reflects the desired geographic diversification of the fund, but also shows that our local teams can identify and successfully acquire investment properties for our investors, even in highly competitive markets.'
Menno Verhoeff portfolio manager at PPF Real Estate, commented: 'Given the recent resurgence in the Dutch office market, we believe the timing was right for us to crystallise the upside from this asset on behalf of our shareholders'.
Principal Global Investors
In November 2017, it was announced that Principal Global Investors, the asset management arm of Principal Financial Group, would acquire the Internos Global Investors Group. On completion, the combined group will have real assets under management of $79.2 bn and be one of the top 10 global real estate managers.
Atlas Tax advisors supported Internos on the tax aspects of the transaction and legal advice was provided by Solve Samen and Schut van der Ven notary. Royal HaskoningDHV was responsible for technical due diligence.
NL Real estate advised PPF Real Estate.
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