AXA IM - Real Assets has signed an agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of NorthStar Realty Europe Corp., a NYSE listed real estate investment trust, which owns a significant portfolio of 12 office properties and two hotel assets with a combined value at €1.1bn located in key European cities within Germany, the United Kingdom and France.
Through a single transaction, the deal provides AXA IM – Real Assets with immediate access to a significant 122,000m² portfolio of modern, prime, well-located office space across Europe’s three core markets. The office portfolio is 96% let, with an average lease expiry of 5.9 years and offers the potential for both asset management and further income generation.
The 68,000m² German portfolio comprises six office assets including three in the city centre of Hamburg, with the remaining three in Cologne, Munster and Berlin. The two hotels are also in Berlin and comprise 334 rooms across 12,000m² in total. There are a further two assets totalling 22,000m² in the City and West End of London and four offices totalling 32,000m² across a range of locations in central Paris.
Commenting on the acquisition John O’Driscoll, European Head of Transactions at AXA IM – Real Assets, said: “This proposed public-to-private transaction demonstrates our ability to tackle complex deals to unlock opportunities for our clients. The acquisition of NRE is a rare opportunity to secure a significant portfolio of prime modern European offices in a single transaction. The properties, which are located in the major cities of Europe’s largest economies of France, the UK and Germany, have high occupancy and produce strong levels of income that are ideally suited to our clients. As well as highlighting our ability to undertake complex deals of scale globally, this transaction also demonstrates our highly flexible 360-degree approach to investing in real estate via debt or equity and through a range of private or public entry points, including corporate acquisitions.”
