Top 5 deals, Week 44 (27-31 October 2008)

The largest deal recorded by PropertyEU between 27 and 31 October was KanAm's acquisition of a Paris office property from Gecina for EUR 133 mln.

Top 5 deals* for Week 43 (27 - 31 October 2008)

1. KanAm acquires Paris office property for EUR 133m

2. FdR sells for EUR 95m to BNP Paribas OPCI

3. HSBC Trinkaus RE shops in Luxembourg for EUR 81.5 mln

4. Germans acquire Birmingham office from Irish banking group for EUR 38m

5. Corio buys Ikea store next to Turin mall

* Deals for which the investment volume was given

Scroll down for the news on the deals

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1) KanAm acquires Paris office property for EUR 133m

German property fund manager KanAm has purchased an office building in the Paris region from French real estate company Gecina for EUR 133.5 mln. Located in Poissy commune, about 24km from the centre of Paris, the property comprises 48,396 m² of space and is fully leased to automobile group PSA. The property was completed in 2002.

The transaction was handled by Jones Lang LaSalle, and the advisors were Gide Loyrette and Me Brulon for the buyer, and Wargny Katz for Gecina.

Gecina said the sale is in line with its portfolio management strategy, which is focusing in priority on assets located in the Paris central business district and Western Crescent. The group disposal program for 2008 represents approximately EUR 700 mln for the office and residential businesses.

Gecina is a French real estate investment trust (SIIC) listed on Euronext, with a portfolio valued at over EUR 13 bn at end-June 2008, primarily made up of office and residential properties, with the majority located in Paris and the Paris region.

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2) FdR sells for EUR 95m to BNP Paribas OPCI

French property group Fonciere des Regions said on Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with Technical Property Fund I, the OPCI investment vehicle of BNP Paribas REIM, to sell a portfolio of 30 office properties for a total of EUR 95.1 mln excluding taxes. The portfolio consists of around 99,000 m² of offices located mostly outside Paris and leased to France Telecom. In a statement, FdR said that the sale is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The company said that this is the first sale to an OPCI investment vehicle and added that it 'will closely monitor changes in the OPCI market so that additional opportunities can be taken advantage of.'

In spite of more challenging market conditions, FdR has signed deals worth some EUR 686 mln so far in 2008, and sealed sale agreements for another EUR 410 mln. In total, the company is expected to close sales of EUR 1.2-1.3 bn this year at an average price of 7% above the property appraised value. The sales are in line with the company disposal plan for 2008 aimed at reducing the firm's gearing.
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3) Corio buys Ikea store next to Turin mall

Retail property specialist Corio is acquiring an Ikea store in Turin in order to redevelop it to add value to the nearby Le Gru shopping centre in which Corio owns a 50% stake. Corio has announced that it has reached agreement with Ikea under which the furniture retailer will lease the Ikea unit back until a new store in Collegno will be completed and delivered, expected to be in May 2009.

Corio said once Ikea moves out the 14,500-m² retail until will be redeveloped for new tenants for EUR 3 mln and re-opened in the first part of 2010. The Netherlands-based retail specialist said its Le Gru shopping centre is the dominant centre with a strategically strong location in the city of Turin. The acquisition of the IKEA store will enable Corio Italia to further strengthen Le Gru as retail destination, with a total gross lettable area of 80,000 m2, Corio said.

Le Gru is Corio Italia’s second largest and Corio’s fourth largest shopping centre in value. Le Gru was one of the first large shopping centres in Italy when it opened in 1994. It has a total gross lettable area of 65,000 m² of which Corio owns 32,000 m². The shopping centre had a net asset value at end-2007 of EUR 291.5 mln. The anchor tenant of the centre is Carrefour. Other main tenants are amongst others: Fnac, Media World, Zara, Disney Store and Feltrinelli Village. With Le Gru Corio Italia has won several awards or merits.

While the actual purchase price for the Ikea store transaction was not disclosed, Corio said the price per m² gross lettable area will be approximately one third of that of shopping centre Le Gru's value and the expected average yield will be at least in line with Le Gru's.

Corio is one of the largest listed property investment companies with a focus on retail in Europe. Shopping centres in the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey make up 84% of Corio's portfolio of EUR 7.1 bn on 30 June 2008. Corio manages its own shopping centres. Corio is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

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4) Germans acquire Birmingham office from Irish banking group for EUR 38m

Germany's largest listed property company IVG has acquired a six-storey office building in the English city of Birmingham from Bank of Ireland Private Banking for £30.5 mln (EUR 38 mln). The price reflects a net initial yield of about 6.4%.

The property at 2 Brindleyplace comprises 78,000 square feet (7,200 m2) of space and is let to Lloyds TSB until 2021 on a low base rate of £24.50 per square feet. There are also 75 parking places.

Broker Jones Lang LaSalle acted for IVG in the transaction on behalf of clients of IVG Funds.

Ed Gamble, head of Investment at JLL's Birmingham office, said: 'This purchase provided IVG with a unique opportunity to acquire a prime asset on Brindleyplace, one of only two buildings which are outside the Brindleyplace Partnership, and was an ideal addition to our client’s investment portfolio.'

'Whilst general market conditions remain tough, Birmingham’s office leasing market looks on target for a record year of take-up. This combined with prime office yields in the city centre now trading above the 10-year average level of around 6.0%, overseas investors, particularly German funds, are once again seeing good value in Birmingham and other good quality regional centres,' he said.

CB Richard Ellis represented Bank of Ireland Private Banking.

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5) Real I.S. shops in Paris

German investor Real I.S. has acquired an office building in central Paris for around EUR 32 mln. In a statement, the company said that the office property is earmarked for the institutional fund BGV Bayerische Grundvermögen III SICAV FIS (BGV III).

The seven-storey asset provides around 3,000 m² of lettable space and 27 parking spaces. The building is fully let on a long-term basis to the international engineering group Fives. Last week, Real I.S. bought a 18,000 m² office property in Amsterdam for EUR 67 mln. The fund earlier invested in the cities of London, Ottawa and Madrid.