Westgrund, a listed German residential property investor, has just about tripled its core portfolio with the acquisition of 13,300 apartments for €390 mln.

Westgrund, a listed German residential property investor, has just about tripled its core portfolio with the acquisition of 13,300 apartments for €390 mln.

"This acquisition represents the most momentous transaction in the annals of Westgrund, and raises the current annualised net rental income by more than 150% to over €61 mln,' said chief financial officer Sascha Giest.

'The transaction bears out the company's stated growth strategy, and brings up Westgrund's portfolio holdings from a previous total of roughly 7,000 to around 20,000 units now - a real quantum leap for Westgrund,' he added.

The apartments are located in Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Saxony. The largest single site is Wolfsburg in Lower Saxony. The total annual rent is €37 mln, based on the current occupancy rate of 91%.

The vendor is Berlinovo Immobilien Gesellschaft (berlinovo) a real estate service provider owned by and based in the federal state of Berlin. The transaction is being financed by a capital increase and bank financing which has already been agreed.

Some 11,999 residential and 63 commercial units, providing 735,000 m2 of leasable area, are central to the deal, while the resale of 1,300 units, located in Neubrandenburg and Gorlitz, is to take place in the next few days.

The addition of the core portfolio will almost triple Westgrund's housing stock to 19,000 homes, and the annualised net rent income will increase to about €61 mln.

Despite the fast expansion Westgrund remains a small-to-medium landlord in the rapidly consolidating market in Germany. Listed peer Deutsche Annington is the largest German landlord, with 175,000 residential units owned and a further 36,000 managed for third parties at end-March 2014. Deutsche Wohnen, another listed player, owns 148,800 residential units and 2,100 commercial properties.