M&G Real Estate, one of the world’s largest property investors, has acquired a central Berlin office asset as part of its pan-European growth strategy.
It has purchased the 22,521 m² ‘Badensche Strasse’ office for €94.1m from an entity managed by JP Morgan Asset Management.
Comprising two adjoining buildings with four floors and two basement levels, the office is let to strong tenants including BImA (the Institute for Federal Real Estate) and Paypal. Located in Berlin’s Wilmersdorf district, Badensche Strasse is a modern, well-specified and recently refurbished office building.
David Jackson, Fund Manager at M&G Real Estate, said: “Key markets in Europe, and especially Germany, are now experiencing stronger tenant demand and take up, which is fuelling rental growth. As such, core assets in prime locations in Germany continue to be of interest to our pan-European strategy, as evidenced by our new acquisitions, on the back of a trio of purchases in the country in February. We continue to focus on Continental Europe by bolstering our investment capability and expanding our presence through new offices and senior appointments – ensuring we are well placed to act on emerging investment and asset management opportunities, to drive long-term income driven returns for our investors.”
M&G Real Estate has also secured a major new tenant at its office asset in central Cologne. The 20,413 m² office building, which was formerly the headquarters of Lufthansa, has now been leased for a fixed term of 15 years to a department of the German Federal Government.
Thomas Kaechele, Head of M&G Real Estate in Germany, comments: “We are delighted to have achieved such a major new letting of the whole building immediately after expiry of the Lufthansa lease. This demonstrates the strength of the office leasing market in the city of Cologne.”
M&G Real Estate’s European core property strategy has deployed over €1bn of capital since March 2015, with acquisitions made in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal.
Earlier this year, M&G Real Estate invested €140m in the acquisition of a 34,320 m² shopping centre and office complex, the Luisenforum Shopping Centre in Wiesbaden.
