RAG Foundation buys DIC Asset shares from MSREF

The RAG Foundation has acquired a 4.8% stake in listed German property investor DIC Asset from Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds.

The two parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

The Essen-based RAG Foundation was set up in 2007 to finance the discontinuation of coal mining in Germany by the end of 2018. It aims to this by selling shares in Evonik Industries and by generating income from its holdings and financial assets.

Commenting on the DIC share transaction, Helmut Linssen, board member at the RAG Foundation, said: ‘The investment in DIC Asset also implies a commitment to indirect investment in German commercial real estate with the prospect of attractive returns. It is a sector that represents a sustainable and substantial component in our widely diversified investment portfolio.’

Besides this ownership change, the shareholding structure of DIC Asset will remain stable. The free float is still at an unchanged 66.8%, including blue-chip shareholders such as the major German family office Solvia Vermögensverwaltung with 5.1%, US asset manager Ell Capital Management with 4.9% and Dutch pension fund APG Asset Management 3.2%. The remaining 33.2% is in the hands of Deutsche Immobilien Chancen-Group.

Frankfurt-based DIC Asset was established in 2002 and has around €3.4 bn in German real estate assets under management.