Partners Group acquires four European office assets; provides tailored liquidity solutions for two multi-asset real estate portfolio Mittwoch, 04. Juli 2018 - 07:27

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has acquired four office assets totaling over 130,000 square meters of lettable area across Belgium and Germany on behalf of its clients since the start of the year. The properties have a total transaction value of around EUR 320 million.

The four assets comprise Botanic Tower, a 19-story office property in the North district of Brussels' CBD; Goldenes Haus, a nine-story building located in Frankfurt's City West office district; and two assets in Berlin, a vacant office building in the Siemensstadt district of West Berlin and a seven-building office park located in close proximity to the capital's Tegel Airport.

The Berlin acquisitions are part of a joint venture targeting office properties that have potential for refurbishment and/or repositioning across the city. Since Partners Group's investments, refurbishment works have commenced at the vacant property in Siemensstadt and a lease-up strategy has been successfully implemented at the office park.

Lars Kreutzmann, Senior Vice President, Co-Head Private Real Estate Europe, Partners Group, states: "These investments are in line with our relative value focus on acquiring affordable office space in submarkets of European cities where supply has not yet caught up with demand. The strategic locations of all four assets position them well to cater to the needs of corporate tenants and capitalize on high office take-up in these cities. We are currently working to attract long-term tenants to the properties and further improve their respective cash-flow profiles."

In addition to these acquisitions in the office space, Partners Group has also completed two other major European real estate transactions since the start of the year, providing tailored liquidity solutions for two multi-asset portfolios totaling 160,000 square meters on behalf of its clients.

The first portfolio comprises six regionally dominant, food-anchored shopping centers in Italy. The assets are located in strong secondary locations with low e-commerce penetration rates and benefit from high-quality tenants as well as stabilized, predictable income streams.

The second is a property portfolio comprising seven assets across Sweden and Finland in the retail, logistics, hospitality and education sectors. The portfolio constitutes an attractive mix of asset types, geographies and stable tenants, with publicly financed tenants backing around 50% of the portfolio's Swedish income.

Stefan Lempen, Managing Director, Co-Head Private Real Estate Europe, Partners Group, comments: "The overarching strategy for our real estate investment practice in Europe, as well as globally, is to offer solutions to complex situations. The acquisitions we have completed since the start of the year demonstrate our ability to provide bespoke investment or liquidity solutions to asset owners, general partners and operators that need a new partner for the continued support of tailored business plans at the asset level. We believe the properties acquired have significant value creation potential and we look forward to unlocking it in the coming months and years."