Catalyst buys Cologne retail park for €55 million (DE)

Catalyst Capital, the European real estate investment and asset management firm, has acquired a substantial retail park near Cologne, Germany, for €55 million.
Catalyst has purchased the Erft Karree Kerpen retail park, 25 kilometres east of Cologne, in partnership with an overseas investor targeting assets in Germany, UK and France. The vendor was the Aachen-based Nesseler Grünzig Group.
The 55,000 m² (592,000 ft²) retail park is a well-located convenience and destination retail park that integrates well with Kerpen’s city center and infrastructure. Anchor tenants include OBI (DIY), Saturn (consumer electronics), Roller (furniture), Staples (office supplier), Intersport, and dm (drugstore). It was constructed in phases from 2010 to 2012 and comprises mainly single-story units. The weighted average unexpired lease term is 8.5 years.
The property was purchased through the acquisition of a property company for around €55 million. Catalyst intends to work closely with the local municipality to grow the centre.
Erft Karree Kerpen is the third property acquisition that Catalyst has completed with its new overseas partner, having acquired a year ago Carl-Ulrich-Strasse 4, an office asset in Neu-Isenburg, for €20 million and, two months ago, Eschersheimer Landstrasse 50, a prime office building in Frankfurt, for €16 million.
Kean Hird, the Catalyst partner responsible for the German and Polish regions, said: “This is a classic Catalyst Capital acquisition. We are buying a well-located and well-let investment, which offers the opportunity for us to apply our asset management skills to add value through driving rental uplifts, repositioning some units and developing new units on vacant plots”.
NAI Apollo introduced the deal to Catalyst. FPS was the legal adviser and Crowe Horwath consulted on tax issues.
Source: Tavistock

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