LaSalle Investment Management has acquired an office complex in the Czech capital Prague for €57 mln from IAD Investments on behalf of a discretionary mandate dubbed LaVA.
LaSalle did not disclose its co-investment client, but it is understood to be the National Pension Service (NPS) of Korea.
'This is the first acquisition by LaVA in the Czech Republic and it represents an excellent opportunity to acquire flexible, high quality office space which can be developed,' commented Chris Zeuner, head of acquisitions for northern, central & southern Europe at LaSalle Investment Management.
River Garden I comprises 19,200 m2 of total space including 15,593 m2 of offices, plus a small amount of retail and storage space. It is fully let to international tenants.
'This acquisition further underlines our confidence in the Karlin office market as we acquired River Garden II - III at the end of last year on behalf of another fund,' added Zeuner. 'LaSalle has now invested over €220 mln in Prague on behalf of other funds that we manage, and will continue to do so in order to benefit from the country’s strong and growing economy.'
IAD Investments, the oldest Slovak asset management company, divested the asset on behalf of its Prvý realitný fond, a mutual fund investing throughout Central Europe.
'The Prague market has been performing very well for the last couple of years. This favourable market momentum was one of the factors in our decision to sell River Garden I as part of our broader strategic plans to expand into others markets,' said Marian Fridrich, transactions manager at IAD Investments.
According to LaSalle, LaVA is a discretionary mandate which has been raised as a co-investment vehicle between LaSalle and its client to invest in value-add real estate across Europe and execute intensive asset management. The total equity commitment is €300 mln.
LaVA was advised by JLL, White & Case and PWC. IAD was advised by Allan & Overy and TPA Horváth.
