SWEDEN - Vasakronan, the real estate company owned by Sweden's national buffer funds, has acquired the Blåmannen 20 city block in Stockholm, known as Klara Zenit, in its entirety for SEK4.35bn (€487m).
Vasakronan bought the building from HausInvest, a German open-ended property fund managed by Commerz Real, in what Jones Lang LaSalle claimed was the largest single asset deal ever to take place in Sweden.
The deal is also part of rebalancing and diversification of Vasakronan's real estate portfolio, which has been historically weighted toward the residential sector.
Last year, Vasakronan sold a SEK5.6bn residential portfolio to AP4, the fourth Swedish national buffer fund.
AP4, along with buffer funds AP1, AP2 and AP3, owns Vasakronan.
Blåmannen 20 is located in Stockholm's central business district, surrounded by Klara North
Church Street, Master Samuelsgatan, Bryggargatan and Queen Street, and contains approximately 70,000 square metres of space.
It is made up of three modern offices, refurbished and extended between 2000 and 2003. Its tenants include Clas Ohlson, Hennes & Mauritz and Oriflame.
Vasakronan has a significant property portfolio in Stockholm, with approximately 1.9m square meters and valued at close to SEK53bn. Lars Johnsson, head of property investment at Vasakronan, said: "We have had a busy period, with several major transactions in 2010. I think 2011 will be an interesting year in the property market."
