Quilvest Real Estate, the real estate investment arm of Quilvest Private Equity, has acquired the RheinBerg Passage, a German inner-city retail property, from MEAG, the asset manager of Munich Re and ERGO. Quilvest Real Estate made the acquisition for a total cost of approximately €30m, in partnership with Greenman Investments, an Irish real estate investment company.
Opened in 2007, the RheinBerg Passage is a c.9,500 m² shopping centre based in Bergisch Gladbach, near the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Under Quilvest Real Estate and Greenman Investments’ ownership, the centre will be refurbished and the tenant mix diversified to enhance its focus on food retailing.
In Germany, Quilvest Real Estate has purchased three real estate assets over the past 18 months for a total gross asset value of c. €100m.
Commenting on the investment, Marc Manasterski, Global Head of Quilvest Real Estate said: “The RheinBerg Passage fits our investment strategy as the asset possesses strong fundamentals, such as itshigh street location and strong catchment area, with Bergisch Gladbach residents demonstrating higher than average purchasing power. It also has great potential for development, by creating greater variety within the tenant structure and improving the internal layout.”
John Wilkinson, CEO of Greenman Investments, said: “The new concept for the RheinBerg Passage scheme focuses primarily on food retailing. From our point of view, this would match the growing demand for a wider variety of groceries in shopping centres. We would like to thank MEAG for the smooth transaction and look forward to working closely with Quilvest Real Estate to implement our strategy.”
