AXA Investment Managers-Real Assets has completed the acquisition of 909-unit residential portfolio in Finland for around €130m.
AXA IM-RA, which entered the Finnish residential market in June, said it bought the portfolio on behalf of two of its funds.
The portfolio spans 22 buildings, nearly 90% of which are located in or close to Finland’s capital and second largest cities. The rental apartments include freehold and leasehold properties.
Constructed since 2010, the lettable area totals 44,198sqm, with individual units averaging 49sqm. AXA IM-RA said the portfolio is almost fully occupied.
In June 2017, AXA IM-RA entered the Finnish residential market with the acquisition of a four-asset residential portfolio for €22m, followed in November by the acquisition of two residential properties in Turku for around €21m. Both transactions were on behalf of a German institutional Spezialfonds focusing on residential investments.
Fredrik Söderlund, the head of asset management and transactions for the Nordics at AXA IM-RA, said: “We have been steadily growing our Nordic assets under management, capitalising on the region’s robust economic fundamentals with the aim to create value for our clients.”
Söderlund added that the latest investment offers an attractive income return, in a market where the hunt for yield continues to be prioritised by real estate investors across Europe.
“With a portfolio spread across a diverse range of traditional and alternative real estate sub-sectors, we’re now pleased to have built up a meaningful holding in the Finnish residential sector comprising 1,143 units so soon after our entry into the market,” he said.
