CBRE Global Investors and Fabrica SGR, respectively the advisor and asset manager of the Italian Cicerone pension fund, have acquired Kö-Blick, an eight storey office building in Düsseldorf, Germany.
The property belonged to an individual fund (open-ended real estate special AIF) of Warburg-HIH Invest. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
The property was built in 2012 and has achieved DGNB Platinum Certification. It offers 5,500 m2 of office space as well as four residential units over 550 m2, located on the eighth floor, two retail units on the ground floor and 45 parking spaces.
The building is located in the heart of Düsseldorf’s business district on the corner of the Königsallee, the city’s high-end shopping destination.
The main tenants of the fully-let Kö-Blick are the global real estate service provider CBRE, the international commercial law firm Mayer Brown and the independent law firm GvW Graf von West.
'Given the current market situation, the sale of absolute core properties such as the Kö-Blick, a high-quality building with renowned tenants in a prime location, is very interesting and enables us to achieve attractive returns for our investors,' said Hans-Joachim Lehmann, managing director Transaction Management Germany Warburg-HIH Invest.
Michael Ness, head of Separate Accounts EMEA, CBRE Global Investors, said: 'Kö-Blick is a good example of where we have leveraged our global footprint and local market expertise to consolidate Cicerone Fund’s Pan-European portfolio, which has now increased its GAV outside Italy to €250 mln.'
Giovanni Maria Benucci, CEO, Fabrica SGR, added: 'The acquisition is consistent with the Fund’s investment strategy, focused on premium assets based in major European cities. With this new acquisition, the cross-border asset allocation of the Fondo Cicerone reached 27% of the overall Fund’s portfolio, in line with the investor’s geographic diversification targets. Moreover, the operation strengthens the Fund’s presence in German real estate by targeting (after Berlin) offices in one of the most liquid markets.'
CBRE Global Investors and Fabrica SGR were advised by Clifford Chance, and Drees&Sommer. Warburg HIH-Invest was advised on the transaction by CBRE.
