Real I.S. buys German shopping centre for EUR 76m

German fund manager Real I.S. has acquired the Schlössle Galerie shopping centre in the south-western German town of Pforzheim from Deka Immobilien for EUR 76 mln.

Deka's WestInvest InterSelect open-ended real estate fund had acquired the 19,000 m² shopping centre when it was completed in 2005.

The centre comprises 40 retail outlets over three levels, a three-storey office building and medical space.

The property has been upgraded through several remodelling measures, include the addition of a new food court on the ground floor, in recent months. 'In light of these property-specific circumstances, the fund is taking advantage of the present strong demand for retail real estate in Germany and selling the property,' Deka said.

Real I.S. bought the asset from Deka on behalf of a special fund, BGV IV. The fund was launched in 2010 and has EUR 380 mln of equity. To date, BGV IV has acquired three properties in France, three in Germany and two in the Netherlands. The target size of the fund is EUR 700 mln.

Rödl & Partner provided Real I.S. with legal and tax advice on the latest investment. Property adviser Jones Lang LaSalle and law firm GSK Stockmann & Kollegen acted for Deka.

Real I.S. is a major provider of closed-end real estate funds and special funds in Germany. Since 1991, it has launched more than 100 products with a total investment of over EUR 8 bn for retail banking and institutional investors. The company invested more than EUR 1 bn on real estate transactions in 2011. The main investment locations were Germany, the Netherlands, France and Australia.

Deka Bank Group is the largest provider of open-ended real estate funds in Germany. The two capital investment companies, Deka Immobilien Investment and WestInvest, had EUR 23 bn of assets under management at end-March 2012.