Patrizia set to open office in Norway

German asset manager Patrizia Immobilien plans to open an office in Norway as part of plans to grow its presence across Europe.

Speaking to PropertyEU in an interview at Expo Real, Rikke Lykke, managing director of Patrizia in the Nordics, said the opening will likely take place by the end of the year or in early 2016 at the latest. ‘We just need to decide whether we will acquire a team or hire a team,’ Lykke said.

Patrizia has built up a €1 bn portfolio in the Nordics since entering the market in 2010. The company currently has a 25 staff in Denmark, with smaller offices in Sweden and in Finland.

‘In Sweden, as in Norway, there is a currency issue so it is difficult to get euro-denominated investors on board. But we have recently been looking for new investors from Asia and the US to step up our activity in the Nordic countries. We want to bring Nordic investors to the rest of the world and the rest of the world to the Nordics,’ Lykke added.

Commenting on the company's planned investment strategy in Norway, she said residential real estate is fairly high priced in the country, so the main focus will be on commercial real estate sector.