Union Investment has bought three residential buildings offering 1,384 apartments in Berlin for a total of €87 mln, on behalf of one of its special funds.

Union Investment has bought three residential buildings offering 1,384 apartments in Berlin for a total of €87 mln, on behalf of one of its special funds.

The vendor is listed residential property company Tag Immobilien.

The deal is expected to close at end-January. It is the second acquisition to be carried out by Union Investment Real Estate for this fund, following the purchase of the Ortlergärten asset in Berlin. The vehicle has a warchest of €120 mln at present, Hamburg-based Union said.

TAG said the disposal results in pre-tax earnings of around €12 mln based on IFRS accounting rules.

'While TAG is primarily a long-term property investor, in exceptional cases we will take advantage of opportunities to realise sales,' said Rolf Elgeti, CEO of TAG Immobilien. The company plans to use the €40 mln in equity released from the sale to buy properties with a higher initial return on investment. 'The sale further improves the TAG group's operating profitability and FFO,' Elgeti added.

Dupuis GmbH & Co. Asset Management was mandated to carry out portfolio and asset management on the assets.