Lone Star has strengthened its position in the Dutch retail property sector by acquiring a large portfolio of assets from insurer Dela.
The transaction involved 73 individual retail stores, four shopping centres, 90 apartments, 15,000 m2 of office space and two parking garages.
The parties did not reveal the investment volume for the deal. But PropertyNL, the Dutch-language sister publication of PropertyEU, said market sources suggested the price was in the region of €215 mln.
Portfolio
The portfolio comprises 90,000 m2 of gross leasable area. The shop units are located throughout the Netherlands, while the shopping centres are in the cities of Goes, Helmond, Eindhoven and Amsterdam.
Most of the residential assets are located above the individual store units. The office space and car parks, with a total of 1,100 spaces, are located in the Dutch capital.
The transaction immediately gives Lone Star scope to build a major retail portfolio in the Netherlands, and to add value through asset management and selective sales.
The portfolio will be managed by Propertize, the former Dutch bad bank acquired by Lone Star and JP Morgan for €896 mln in June 2016.
Propertize had a net value of €3.4 bn at year-end 2015, €2.8 bn of which in the Netherlands and the rest largely in other European countries.
According to Propertize's 2015 annual report, the unit owned €1.17 bn of residential assets, €875 mln of retail properties, €1.15 bn of offices and the rest in other asset classes including €587 mln of commercial assets. There were also nearly €3 bn of the loans.
Vendor
Dela is a provider of funeral insurance and care services in the Netherlands. The asset sale to Lone Star was the culmination of a three-year strategy to refocus its real estate holdings on retail units in selected shopping centres and on neighbourhood stores with a dominant food component.
JLL, Houthoff Buruma and PWC advised Dela in the transaction. BNP Paribas Real Estate, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and Loyens Loeff provided Lone Star with commercial, legal and tax advice.
