M7 Real Estate, the pan-European investor and asset manager which specialises in the regional, multi-let real estate market, announces that it has acquired a portfolio of office and light industrial assets from Valad Europe for €63.5m on behalf of M7 European Real Estate Investment Partners IV (EREIP IV).
The portfolio comprises ten properties that are located in key German cities and offer a combined total floor area of c. 103,000m² including two assets that offer 38,000m² of primarily office accommodation in central Düsseldorf. Located at Heltorfer Strasse 4-6 and 12-22, the two offices currently have a combined vacancy of 52%, and M7 has identified a number of opportunities to grow value through asset management.
The remaining eight assets are light industrial properties, with a total lettable area of circa 64,800m². Three of these are situated in Lohfelden near Kassel, two are in Ottobrunn close to Munich, while the others are in Regensburg, the nearby town of Barbing and Langenfeld near Düsseldorf. These assets are around 68% let to a range of tenants.
Following this acquisition, M7 manages 77 properties in Germany, with a total floor area exceeding 828,000m² and an investment volume of circa €463m.
Alyssa Huse, Managing Director of M7 Germany commented: "We acquired this portfolio because it provides both a mix of strong and diverse income profiles, combined with a range of opportunities to enhance capital and rental values, and we now plan to achieve significant medium term growth in the value of the portfolio through a targeted asset management programme.”
Danilo Hunker, Head of Germany at Valad Europe, adds: "The High Return Portfolio, part of a larger asset management mandate, was marketed for sale in second quarter 2016. This was an optimum time for us to dispose of the assets which resulted in us achieving the targets of the mandate set in 2013 when Valad was first appointed. We are delighted with the outcome.”
Simmons & Simmons acted as the purchaser's legal adviser. Gleeds Deutschland carried out the technical due diligence and Ambiente the environmental due diligence. Colliers International organised the structured tendering process for the vendor, while Berwin Leighton Paisner provided legal consultancy services.
