Union Investment Real Estate was the top German investor in the Netherlands in 2011 thanks to its acquisition of the first building of the Monarch project in The Hague for EUR 70 mln. The Hamburg-based manager of open-ended and special funds also purchased the Crowne Plaza hotel in the Dutch capital for almost EUR 50 mln.

Union Investment Real Estate was the top German investor in the Netherlands in 2011 thanks to its acquisition of the first building of the Monarch project in The Hague for EUR 70 mln. The Hamburg-based manager of open-ended and special funds also purchased the Crowne Plaza hotel in the Dutch capital for almost EUR 50 mln.

German closed-end fund manager Hannover Leasing invested EUR 108 mln in an office transaction in Rotterdam and a warehouse deal in Utrecht. Two other German fund managers, Deka Immobilien and Real IS, both invested close to EUR 100 mln each in Dutch real estate last year.

Germans fund managers were the largest cross-border investment group in the Benelux region last year, according to data compiled by PropertyEU Research. Together they accounted for EUR 660 mln or 29% of the total EUR 2.3 bn spent on large deals in the market.

Americans were the second biggest group of foreign investors, led by WP Carey with a volume of about EUR 200 mln. The international sale-and leaseback specialist carried out the largest real estate transaction in the country last year when it acquired six distribution centres from retailer C1000 for EUR 157 mln. WP Carey, which is headquartered in New York, invested around EUR 600 mln in Europe last year.

CBRE Global Investors, formerly ING Real Estate, but now part of the US-based advisory firm, carried out the largest foreign deal in Belgium during 2011. The international fund manager acquired Galeries Saint Lambert shopping centre in Liège for some EUR 100 mln.

The full article appears in the May issue of PropertyEU. Click on the link below to subscribe: