ACRON, the indirect real estate investment specialist, has acquired the Wien Westbahnhof A3 commercial property in BahnhofCity Wien West in a bidding process conducted by ÖBB Immobilienmanagement GmbH. The closing took place on October 31, 2012.
ACRON has expanded its portfolio, adding a property in Austria for the first time.
Completed in 2011, the building is a multifunctional hub with offices, a hotel, and a shopping center featuring a unique set of transportation connections. Long-term leases have been signed for the entire property. ACRON Wien West A3 S.A. is ACRON's tenth investment company structured as a single-property stock corporation (AG).
ACRON has expanded its portfolio, adding a property in Austria for the first time. The company has acquired the multifunctional Wien Westbahnhof A3 commercial property from ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG, managed by ÖBB-Immobilienmanagement GmbH.
The property, part of the BahnhofCity Wien West (www.bahnhofcitywienwest.at) building complex, is located on a site measuring 5,281 m² and features a hotel, a shopping center with 19 shops, and offices housed in a total of 24,971 m² of commercial space. The property was completed by the team of architects Heinz Neumann & Eric Steiner in 2011 and in 2011 won a DIVA Award for its urban development and business excellence and sophisticated architectural design.
Commenting on the investment, Kai Bender, CEO of ACRON AG, said, "The acquisition of our first property in Austria is a systematic continuation of our pursuit of our proven 30-year strategy: Purchasing top-notch commercial properties in selected locations with excellent transportation connections promotes security, transparency, and value growth.
The long-term leases for the entire property running for 10 to 30 years, combined with a general lease agreement for the shopping center with Austrian Railways, which is wholly owned by the Republic of Austria, will give our investors a very secure flow of income."
The property is unique due to its location. Its excellent connections to public transportation make BahnhofCity Wien West one of the most important transportation hubs in the city of Vienna. The links to regional, local, and long-distance transportation, the tram, subway, and airport buses make the property a stand-out. As part of the Vienna's West train station, BahnhofCity Wien West is located near Vienna's ring road and sees around 60,000 consumers per day.
This investment is ACRON's first structured as a Luxembourg single-property stock corporation called ACRON Wien West A3 S.A. ACRON is thus further developing the proven single-property stock corporation concept.
The Luxembourg company enables non-Austrians (including investors from Switzerland and other non-EU states) to indirectly invest in real estate without regulatory approval. Double taxation agreements with nearly all EU and many non-EU countries also allow for capital repayments and their tax-free distribution. The shares will receive an ISIN and will be posted to shareholder securities accounts at a later time. Investors will enjoy the advantages of a freely transferable investment vehicle.
The investment volume totals €88 million, incl. incidental costs, and the forecast average distribution yield is anticipated to be 6.5%. ACRON plans to present this investment opportunity to interested qualified investors in private placement starting in November 2012.
Source: Acron
