IVG confirms €200m acquisition of Metro’s global HQ

German real estate group IVG Immobilien has confirmed the acquisition of retail conglomerate Metro Group’s global HQ campus in Düsseldorf for €200 mln in a sale-and-leaseback deal, as tipped by PropertyEU.

IVG has purchased 75,500 m2 of the 117,000 m2 site, likely in partnership with an unnamed German pension fund, according to someone familiar with the sale. Despite persistent market rumours that an Asian investor was involved, that is no longer believed to be the case.

The site comprises six office buildings and a car park on Metro’s campus in the Grafenberg Allee district in the east of the city. Metro Group has leased back the properties on a 15-year lease.

INTERNATIONAL INTEREST
The sale marks ‘a very big deal’ for the market, according to Ignaz Trombello, head of investment in Germany at Colliers, who advised Metro on the sale. ‘There was very international interest, from North American, European, Middle Eastern and Asian investors,’ Trombello said. ‘Düsseldorf is a relatively small but international market and €200 mln for a pure office deal shows the scale of the interest.’

Given the size and nature of the tenant, the properties was bound to generate substantial investor interest, according to Achim Birken, a regional director of office development at JLL in Düsseldorf: ‘I can think of several parties that this would be a perfect fit for because it’s about buying excellent cash-flow for the future,’ he said.

The properties were brought to market in the first quarter of 2014 and were constructed especially for Metro Group, which is the fourth largest trade and retail group globally. The group invested around €100 mln in construction and has occupied the site since 2004.

At the campus, Metro Group oversees its activities across more than 32 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, with around 265,000 employees globally. In the first nine months of 2013, Metro Group’s turnover was €43.6 bn.

There have been other sizeable deals in the city this year, notably Blackstone’s acquisition of four office properties from Portigon, the legal successor to troubled German lender WestLB, for around €350 mln in January.