Finnish lender S-Bank’s wealth management business has sold a portfolio of almost 400 apartments across Southern Finland to the Avara Residential Fund II. Financial details were not disclosed.
The portfolio consists of 17 assets, of which 8 are wholly- and 9 minority-owned. The leasable area of the portfolio is approximately 20,000 m2. The assets are located in the large cities in Southern Finland and are nearly fully occupied. The portfolio’s main focus is on the Helsinki region and the other apartments are located in Tampere, Lahti and Jyväskylä regions.
‘The transaction is an excellent addition to our growing Avara Residential Fund II Ky fund and supports the growth of Avara funds. The fund’s strategy is to own residential properties in growth centres and this transaction supports this goal well. We are pleased to complete the transaction with professional domestic counter parties,’ said Harri Retkin, CIO at Avara.
Tero Uusitalo, co-head of Capital Markets at JLL Finland, which advised the vendor said: ‘We are pleased to have been able to successfully advise S-Bank’s funds in the sale of this residential portfolio. The current market conditions have significantly increased the interest towards residential investments and portfolios of quality - even towards minority-owned assets. Particularly, the strong and predictable existing cash flow is highly sought-after by both domestic and foreign investors. We have truly put an effort on residential segment in Finland for multiple years now and it is rewarding to see that with our extensive market knowledge we were able to achieve great results for our client.’
