Perella Weinberg to buy controlling stake in Germany's MFI

US private equity firm Perella Weinberg Partners is to acquire a majority stake in Essen-based Management für immobilien (MFI), a leading developer and operator of shopping centres in Germany.

Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund I, the European real estate investment arm of Perella Weinberg Partners, will acquire a majority stake in MFI via a capital increase, whose financial details have yet to be disclosed. Founder and chairman of the MFI supervisory board, Roger Weiss will retain a significant stake in the company. The agreement is subject to certain conditions, including the approval of the responsible antitrust authority.

'We are investing in one of the most attractive German companies in this sector and intend to support MFI in the long-term in order to continue its success story,' said Léon Bressler, partner of Perella Weinberg Partners. 'Through the capital increase MFI will gain more flexibility in expanding its activities and range of services to the benefit of its partners, tenants, and clients alike.'

Law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised MFI on the operation. Hengeler Mueller acted for Perella.

MFI said that the strengthening of its equity base will allow it to develop its activities, which currently focus on eight development projects with an investment volume of around EUR 1.5 bn as well as on a number of restructurings of older shopping centers. 'With Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund I, MFI gains a long-term investor', said Matthias Böning, CEO of MFI. Upon completion of the transaction Léon Bressler will become deputy chairman of the supervisory board of MFI.

MFI, with a portfolio comprising 30 shopping centres valued at EUR 4 bn, started looking for new investors last year, after the exit of its long-term investor, the Canadian pension fund Ivanhoe Cambridge. Perella entered the German retail property market earlier this year with the purchase of the 111,000 m² Bochum Ruhr Park shopping centre - Germany's largest shopping centre - in a joint venture with MFI for around EUR 300 mln.