German fund manager KanAm has repaid €720 mln in the largest single dividend payout so far to investors in its open-ended Grundinvest fund which is in the final stages of liquidation.
KanAm Grundinvest was one of the high-profile victims of the German open-ended fund liquidity crisis that started at the start of the decade. KanAm suspended redemptions in May 2010 and it was decided to begin liquidation of the fund in mid-2012 and return cash to investors.
The latest dividend payment equates to €10 per fund share. Taken together with repayment of all third-party loans totalling €2.4 bn, KanAm has repaid €4.4 bn of the fund. Over 80% of the fund's original portfolio of 52 properties have been sold and deals over the last summer alone came to €1 bn. Definitive sales negotiations are underway for eight of the remaining 12 assets and KanAm expects to have agreements by the end of the year, amounting to a further volume of around €800 mln.
KanAm said its 'Agenda 2016' programme for liquidation of the KanAm Grundinvest Fonds had achieved the 'highest sales volume of all open-end real estate funds currently in liquidation'. Under the programme some of the assets required reletting, new leases, renovations and even costly conversions to position them for sale, the fund manager added.
