TOP INVESTORS: CBRE GI completes €6.6 bn of EMEA deals in 2015

CBRE Global Investors completed €6.6 bn of direct transactions in EMEA in 2015, representing an approximate 30% increase on 2014.

The total breaks down to €3.1 bn of acquisitions and €3.5 bn of disposals, as the company capitalised on strong appetite from buyers and an increased level of stock coming to the market.

'Through 2015 we saw an increasingly liquid market in EMEA,' said Pieter Hendrikse, CEO EMEA, CBRE Global Investors. 'This has enabled our priority programmes to be disciplined buyers and it has also been good timing to dispose of assets in agreement with fund exit plans. Being both a buyer and seller demonstrates the competitive advantage of our platform and our ability to transact successfully at all stages of the cycle.'

Around 60% of the company’s acquisitions were in the retail sector, which is significantly above the 26% market average. 'Our strong EMEA-focused retail team, monitoring trends and managing nearly €15 bn of retail assets throughout Europe, enables us to continuously source interesting risk-weighted investment opportunities in all retail formats from high street stores and supermarkets to prime and secondary shopping centres,' said Sophie van Oosterom, CIO EMEA, CBRE Global Investors.

For 2016, the company expects acquisition volumes to take the lead as a result of the growth of existing funds and a number of new separate account mandates with significant requirements for retail, logistics and office investment s in 2016.

'We are known as a reliable counterparty having successfully completed over 230 transactions in 2016 on behalf of our mandated clients. We have a strong acquisitions pipeline across the sectors and have ongoing requirements particularly for high quality, well located retail and logistics assets,' said John Mulqueen, head of Transactions EMEA, CBRE Global Investors.

In total, the EMEA business including CBRE Global Investment Partners, transacted €10.4 bn.