AXA Real Estate’s acquisition of an office portfolio in Spain was a prime example of how the largest real estate investors used 2013 to re-adjust their strategies in a way that is benefitting European markets that have been neglected since the outbreak of the financial crisis.

AXA Real Estate’s acquisition of an office portfolio in Spain was a prime example of how the largest real estate investors used 2013 to re-adjust their strategies in a way that is benefitting European markets that have been neglected since the outbreak of the financial crisis.

In June 2013, AXA Real Estate acquired 13 government-let offices in Barcelona for €172 mln. This was the French asset manager’s first venture into Spain in six years.CBRE Global Investors spent the last 12 months clearing the decks with disposals of assets belonging to funds nearing termination for investment in ‘new opportunities’ in 2014. The company sold off close to €2 bn and acquired €1.2 bn of property as it wound down or repositioned certain funds across Europe and raised new capital for funds and from new separate account clients for deployment this year. The fund manager has increased its transaction target for 2014 to €6 bn worldwide as it believes that this year will provide a broad range of acquisition and sale opportunities across Europe as the region’s economies recover. M&G Real Estate marked its 150th anniversary by posting a record deal volume of £3.5 bn over the past 12 months. The activity was divided between £2.5 bn of acquisitions and £1 bn of disposals – split between supercore London product and value-added plays outside the capital. M&G Real Estate’s largest transaction was the acquisition in October 2013 of Bankside 2 & 3 and the Retail holdings of Bankside 1 in London’s Southbank area from UK REIT Land Securities. German fund manager Union Investment carried out no less than 50 real estate acquisitions and disposals totalling €2.8 bn, including €1.35 bn in its home market Germany, in 2013. Meanwhile sale-and-leaseback specialist WP Carey booked a total volume of €1.3 bn, including €350 mln in Europe including the acquisition of office, retail, manufacturing, R&D, hotel and self-storage assets. The transactions in Europe were in the UK, Finland, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia and Germany. German peer Deka Immobiliën carried out 45 real estate acquisitions and disposals totalling €2.8 bn in 2013.