Tristan enters Netherlands with €212m Generali portfolio deal

Tristan Capital Partners is close to finalising its first major transaction in the Netherlands by acquiring Generali Real Estate's Dutch portfolio for €212 mln, PropertyEU has learned.

Tristan declined to comment when contacted by PropertyEU.

The 40-asset portfolio is a mix of offices, retail and residential buildings and is being acquired by Tristan's Episo 4 value-add/opportunistic fund, according to market sources.

Some 48% of the value comes from retail or retail-led properties, 33% from offices and 19 from residential. About 80% of the portfolio value is located in the Randstad conurbation, with assets located in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Haarlem and Almere.

The office component includes the Piazza office building in Gouda, La Guardia 2 in Amsterdam and the former Cap Gemini building in Utrecht. The deal also covers retail properties on the main shopping streets in central Amsterdam: Kalverstraat, Leidsestraat and Rokin. The residential units are located in Amsterdam and Almere.

Shopping centre De Admirant in Eindhoven was not included in the transaction as Generali owns this in a joint venture with Dutch railways pension fund (Spoorwegpensioenfonds).

Market sources say that a portion of the portfolio requires intensive asset management and redevelopment to realise the full value. This is one of Tristan's specialities and in mid-July the asset manager announced it had completed the fastest fundraise in its history - €1.5 bn for Episo 4. Around the same time Tristan's CEO Ric Lewis told UK trade publication Property Week that the company had begun looking at the Netherlands again for potential investment after a long hiatus.

Lewis and his team were active in the Netherlands prior to the global financial crisis when they worked at fund manager Cuzon Capital Partners, which was taken over by AEW Europe. Lewis established Tristan in 2009.

Generali Real estate is headed by Christian Delaire, former head of AEW Europe.

The latest transaction underscores the intense international appetite for Dutch real estate as investors seek to capitalise on the recovery in the market. PropertyEU understands that Tristan overcame competition from several Dutch and international players to reach a preliminary agreement with Generali. The portfolio was brought to the market by JLL and Savills in early 2015.

Sources say that Tristan worked in partnership with Timeless, an investment vehicle for the Van Veggel family. Hans van Veggel was the founder of shopping centre developer-manager Multi Corporation which was taken over by Blackstone Group in 2013.

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