US investment bank Morgan Stanley was the biggest investor in the European property sector this year, according to the ranking of the top 500 European commercial real estate deals in 2007 published in the December edition of PropertyEU Magazine. Morgan Stanley initiated deals with a total investment volume of EUR 4.5 bn from January to end-November. Germany accounted for two portfolio transactions worth a total EUR 2.5 bn and another two office deals in Frankfurt worth a combined EUR 1.3 bn.
US investment bank Morgan Stanley was the biggest investor in the European property sector this year, according to the ranking of the top 500 European commercial real estate deals in 2007 published in the December edition of PropertyEU Magazine. Morgan Stanley initiated deals with a total investment volume of EUR 4.5 bn from January to end-November. Germany accounted for two portfolio transactions worth a total EUR 2.5 bn and another two office deals in Frankfurt worth a combined EUR 1.3 bn.
At end-November, property adviser Cushman & Wakefield forecast that 2007 would be another record year for investment in European real estate, with volumes totalling some EUR 235-240 bn compared to EUR 236 bn in 2006. More than half of that figure is accounted for in the list of deals registered by PropertyEU in the first 11 months of this year.
In total, PropertyEU recorded 609 deals to 30 November totalling € 129 bn. Of this figure, some EUR 15 bn involved sale-and-leaseback transactions including a number of high-profile trophy deals such as the HSBC head office, the Citigroup headquarters and the Gherkin in London.
As for source of investment, the UK ranks number one in the PropertyEU overview, accounting for EUR 32.8 bn of total volume. The second-biggest group of investors in Europe in 2007 originates from the US, with a total of EUR 20 bn, followed by German investors with € 16 bn. Irish investors injected a hefty EUR 8.6 bn into European property this year, equal to the total amount spent by investors from France. This figure is also significantly higher than that for the entire Benelux.
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