Singapore-listed First Sponsor has expanded its real estate holdings in the Netherlands by leading the €226 mln consortium acquisition of offices from Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd.

Singapore-listed First Sponsor has expanded its real estate holdings in the Netherlands by leading the €226 mln consortium acquisition of offices from Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd.

The agreement was announced on Friday and covers Delta Lloyd's entire 16-asset office portfolio. Several of the buildings are occupied by the vendor, including its headquarters at the 120-metre-high Mondriaan Tower in Amsterdam. Delta Lloyd has agreed to continue to lease all the space it currently occupies.

The transaction is part of Delta Lloyd's planned disposal of its €2.2 bn direct commercial real estate portfolio to bolster its solvency ratios ahead of the implementation of new European capital reserve requirements. The insurer will continue to invest in residential real estate in the Netherlands.

'The new strategy is aimed at simplifying the portfolio and reducing risks,' said Igno Schings, real estate manager at Delta Lloyd. 'The focus will be in investments in Dutch housing. We currently own 6,000 units and we intend to expand on this in the coming years.'

The buyers were advised by property adviser DTZ Zadelhoff and law firm Nauta Dutilh. Delta Lloyd was supported by property adviser CBRE and law firm Loyens & Loeff.

Asian investment
First Sponsor is a listed Chinese company which is majority-owned by the Hong Leong Group – one of China’s biggest real estate investors – and Tai Tak Estates.

First Sponsor has been at the forefront this year of Asian interest in the Dutch real estate market, which is enjoying renewed international interest after several years of stagnation post-crisis.

The company acquired the Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels in Amsterdam for a combined €55 mln in June. First Sponsor's inaugural deal in the Netherlands came in February this year when it purchased the Zuiderhof 1 office complex in Amsterdam’s Zuidas business district together with a group of private investors for €51.5 mln.

PropertyEU forecasts that this type of heavy international inflows will likely result in 2015 at least equalling the €10 bn investment volume record set in 2014.