AXA Real Estate completes the acquisition of a core office building in Helsinki (FI)

AXA Real Estate Investment Managers ('AXA Real Estate'), the leading real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe(1), announces that it has completed the acquisition of Polaris Vega, a core office building in Helsinki, Finland, from IVG Institutional Funds GmbH. The acquisition has been made on behalf of the Caesar Fund (the 'Fund'), a regulated fund for Italian institutional investors launched by AXA Real Estate through its Italian regulated subsidiary, AXA Real Estate Investment Managers SGR.
The building, which comprises 5,922 m² of Grade A office space, is located in the Polaris Business Park in the Leppävaara district, a prime office location northwest of Helsinki’s central business district. Leppävaara is an established and highly urbanised district and considered to be one of the top three office locations in Helsinki outside the city centre. The building is currently almost fully let and anchored by one of Northern Europe’s leading gas companies on a long lease.

The property also benefits from four car parking spaces located directly outside of the building as well as an additional 145 spaces in an adjacent car park that the Fund has acquired as part of the transaction. The location has excellent transport connections to both the city centre and Helsinki airport and benefits from a selection of amenities and services in the wider business park including retail, restaurants and leisure facilities.

Polaris Vega, which is the ninth acquisition for the Fund and the second in Finland, following the recent purchase of a €41 mln office building in Ruoholahti, is directly in line with the Fund’s strategy to acquire well-located core office properties in key European cities.
Giorgio Pieralli, Fund Manager of the Caesar Fund, commented: “The acquisition of this core asset in a prime office location demonstrates the Fund’s approach to acquiring assets which we believe will produce secure, long-term income for our clients as well as the potential for future capital and income growth.”
Henrik Bastman, Head of Asset Management in the Nordic Region at AXA Real Estate, added: “Completion of the Caesar Fund’s second transaction in Finland clearly illustrates AXA Real Estate’s belief in the potential of the Nordic region to deliver value to our clients. As such, we expect Finland’s real estate market will continue to deliver strong performance and provide interesting investment opportunities going forward.”
Source: AXA