Invesco invests EUR 225m in Netherlands and Paris

Property investment manager Invesco Real Estate confirmed it has purchased the Entre Deux shopping centre in Maastricht, the Netherlands, for EUR 91 mln from ASR Vastgoed Vermogensbeheer, the real estate management division of Dutch insurer ASR. Invesco said it also bought four office properties in Paris CBD for EUR 134.5 mln, bringing the total investment for the two transactions to EUR 225.5 mln.

The properties have been purchased for one of Invesco's pan-European funds, further diversifying the fund by location and sector. Both acquisitions were carried out in off-market transactions.

Entre Deux was acquired by ASR Vastgoed Vermogensbeheer for around EUR 100 mln in 2008. The centre comprises 11,772 m² of retail space in Maastricht’s main shopping area with 30 retail units over three floors. The award-winning shopping centre, which won the 2008 European Shopping Centre Award from the International Council of Shopping Centres, provides a link between Maastricht’s two main squares, the Markt and Vrijthof. Tenants include fashion anchor stores Zara, H&M, New Yorker and Mango.

In the second acquisition, Invesco acquired four core office buildings, representing total space of 12,042 m2, including two ground floor retail units and underground parking. The properties are located within the 'golden triangle' of the CBD of Paris, close to the prestigious Avenue des Champs Elysées, Avenue George V and Avenue Montaigne. The properties were upgraded in 1999 to high specification and are let on long-term leases with strong covenants, with the main tenant being the French headquarters of law firm Linklaters.

For the Entre Deux acquisition, the parties involved in the transaction included Cushman and Wakefield, Muerle Partner and Boekel de Neree and for the Paris acquisition, the parties involved included Turnbull & Associés, Stratégies & Corp and Knight Frank Valuation.

Paddy Bingham, Invesco Real Estate's Director of Fund Management commented: 'I am delighted that we have acquired these properties off-market, which highlights the ability of having a local network around Europe. Our clients are pleased that we have been active but selective in our acquisitions programme to date and now have six assets for the fund, four of which we have purchased this year, in five countries and across the three main sectors.'

Since the beginning of 2010, this pan-European fund has raised an additional EUR 229 mln of new capital from nine new clients, whilst Invesco has transacted almost EUR 850 mln in 20 acquisitions across all of its pan-European mandates year to date.