Hamburg-based Union Investment Real Estate completed a record €5 bn of real estate investment transactions last year, with €1.1 bn of this figure, another record, spent outside of Europe.
Hamburg-based Union Investment Real Estate completed a record €5 bn of real estate investment transactions last year, with €1.1 bn of this figure, another record, spent outside of Europe.
Union Investment's real estate investment teams, led by Frank Billand, handled 29 acquisitions and 37 sales in 2015. The total transaction volume of €5 bn presents a 42% increase on the previous year volume of €3.5 bn.
Although a traditional long-term holder of assets, Union Investment Real Estate saw a high volume of sales in 2015. With some €1.5 bn split over numerous individual transactions and three portfolio sales, including the Aqua office portfolio, the disposal programme reached its highest level for five years. Despite the high sales volume Union Investment's assets under management in the real estate segment rise by almost 10% to €28.5 bn.
'2016 will be as full of potential for property investors as 2015 was, but market conditions call for prudence and discipline,' noted Reinhard Kutscher, CEO of Union Investment Real Estate.
Beyond Europe
Union Investment Real Estate began investing in German real estate in 1965 before building an investment programme for established European markets, followed more recently by forays into North America and Asia-Pacific.
The company's non-European investment reached a record volume in 2015. There were six property purchases in Australia and the US with a total value of around €1.1 bn. The figures, Union Investment said, highlighted its 'pursuit of dynamic growth and international expansion in what remains a highly competitive environment.'
Overseas purchases for the first time accounted for over 30% of total investment of €3.5 bn (2014: €2.5 bn). The investments were focused on the US and Australia, in markets such as Houston, Boston, San Francisco and Sydney, and were made possible by continued strong cash inflows into Union Investment's funds. Fund assets actively managed by Union Investment rose over the course of the year from €26.1 bn to €28.5 bn.
'These international transactions have made an important contribution to further reducing the age of existing holdings and safeguarding the high occupancy levels in our property funds for the future,' Kutscher said. 'At the end of the year, occupancy in our funds for private and institutional investors averaged 95%.'
