Germany's Union Investment Real Estate has emerged as the most active dealmaker in the European commercial real estate sector during the third quarter of 2012.

Germany's Union Investment Real Estate has emerged as the most active dealmaker in the European commercial real estate sector during the third quarter of 2012.

From 1 July to mid-September, PropertyEU Research recorded five acquisitions by the German real estate fund manager with a volume of about EUR 750 mln. The largest was the purchase of the Manufaktura shopping centre in the Polish city of Lodz at end-July for an estimated EUR 350-400 mln. Also in July, Union Investment paid AXA Real Estate EUR 240 mln for two office developments near Paris.

The next two investors in the ranking by investment volume are Malaysian listed companies. Malaysian property developer SP Setia led a consortium which agreed to buy Battersea Power Station in central London last month for (EUR 505 mln), while Malaysian construction firm IJM Land bought the Royal Mint Court in the UK capital for EUR 465 mln.

AXA Real Estate, Blackstone, and Hines together with HSBC Alternative Investments each invested about EUR 420 mln, according to PropertyEU data.

The preliminary report on Q3 investment will be published in the October edition of PropertyEU Magazine.