Euro Property articles from April 2005

Euro Property archives from April 2005

ING funds set to unlock corporate disposals market.
April 1, 2005... Dutch fund manager plans to launch offshore unit trusts into which companies can sell their property ING Real Estate Investment Management is set to shake up the corporate sale-and-leaseback market with the launch of a product that allows...

Shoe retailer provides right fit for IXIS AEW vehicle.
April 1, 2005... European Property fund (EPI) has bought a 21-asset city-centre retail portfolio from shoe retailer Salamander for [euro]100m. Fund manager IXIS AEW Europe (IAE) said the properties, totalling 34,200m[sup.2], are prime retail assets in A1...

Metrovacesa eyes Gecina for cross-border takeover.
April 1, 2005... Metrovacesa has launched a [euro]5.5bn bid to buy French company Gecina, in a deal that would create the eurozone's largest property company. The Spanish company bought 30% of Gecina from insurers AGF and Azur-GMF for [euro]89.75 per share to a...

Office specialist Oslo Areal prepares to float in Norway.
April 1, 2005... The company plans to add more central Oslo office assets to its [euro]428m portfolio Norwegian property company Oslo Areal is to float in the next two months. The company, which has a NKr3.5bn ([euro]428m) portfolio, was set up last Autumn by...

KanAm pays [euro]47m for debut Spanish purchase.
April 1, 2005... KanAm's grundinvest fund has paid around [euro]47m for Madrid office building Edificio Princ, in its debut Spanish purchase. The seven-storey complex has been let until 2016 to Spanish energy company Enagas. It consists of two separate...

Meinl backs shopping spree with [euro]560m capital raising.
April 1, 2005... Meinl European Land has raised [euro]560m through a capital hike to finance its planned acquisitions in central and eastern Europe. At the beginning of March, the Austrian investor issued 42m new shares at [euro]13.65 a share. Following the...

Deutsche Bank and Pirelli land [euro]888m Italian retailer.
April 1, 2005... The consortium will reposition the chain's retail as well as property operations Deutsche Bank Real Estate Opportunities Group (DB REOG) and Pirelli Real Estate have teamed up with Italian retail experts for the [euro]888m acquisition of La...

Fund deal gives Dutch investors a bit of Insight.
April 1, 2005... UK fund manager Insight Investment has placed a tranche of shares in its UK REIT-style vehicles with Dutch investors. The 50m shares, sold by Clerical Medical, signal the first international investment for the Insight Foundation Property Trust....

Immoeast enters Russia via FF&P stake.
April 1, 2005... Immoeast, a unit of Austria's Immofinanz, has entered the Russian market by buying a 25.86% stake in Russian property company Fleming Family & Partners (FF&P) Russia Real Estate. FF&P has $60m in equity and is building a $150-170m property...

Former Deka fund manager Koch sets up own agency.
April 1, 2005... Michael Koch, the former managing director of German fund Deka Immobilien Invest, has set up his own agency. Koch told EuroProperty that he was working with "a small handful of clients trying to solve their property problems". Koch was sacked...

KanAm snaps up mixed-use London building.
April 1, 2005... German open-ended fund KanAm has paid around [euro]200m for 90 High Holborn in London WC1. The 17,234m[sup.2] building was built in 2002 and is located between the City and West End. The main tenant is Olswang Solcitors, which has a lease...

UBS team enters lending market.
April 1, 2005... UBS has launched a new property lending team and has plans to set up a European securitisation programme. The new business is headed by Wilson Lee, who launched Lehman Brother's European Real Estate business in 1996, and as its managing...

Europa Capital pays [euro]55m for first Hungarian investment.
April 1, 2005... The central Budapest West Square office development was bought on behalf of the company's Europa Fund ll, which has now spent [euro]300m on European acquisitions Europa Capital (EC) has made its Hungarian debut with the purchase of a prime...

Agency marks down SEB over accounting practices.
April 1, 2005... Rating agency Scope has downgraded SEB ImmoInvest's rating to BBB from A- due to accounting practices applied by the fund manager. Scope maintained its "hold" rating. Scope claims investors lost out on [euro]30m in dividends between 2001 and...

Soros and Colonial cut French stakes.
April 1, 2005... Two French property companies have increased their number of free-float shares through private placements. Soros Real Estate Investors has sold its stake in French property company Societe de la Tour Eiffel (STE) to French and international...

Resolution ponders disposal of Swedish retail portfolio.
April 1, 2005... UK-based investor Resolution Property is considering selling a portfolio of five retail parks in Sweden. Talks have been held with potential investors, but a deal has yet to be agreed. Resolution bought the portfolio in December 2001 from...

Carlyle to run the show at Hamburg's UFA Theater.
April 1, 2005... The Carlyle Group has bought a nine-storey, mixed-use building in Hamburg's central business district from the liquidator of UFA Theater for an undisclosed sum. It is Carlyle's third deal in the German market. The 12,000m[sup.2] building...

Pramerica creates global equities fund.
April 1, 2005... Pramerica Real Estate Investors has set up a property equities division and launched a global property securities fund. The Worldwide Investors Portfolio - Global Real Estate Securities Fund, which has $10m in seed capital, will be 50%...

Landmark Amsterdam hotel changes hands.
April 1, 2005... The InterContinental Hotels Group has sold Amsterdam's 174-room American Hotel to The Eden Hotel Group for [euro]37m. The landmark building is on the city's Leides Plein. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, which advised the vendor, said it attracted a...

GE carves [euro]190m niche in German housing market.
April 1, 2005... US investor gains control of 4,400 homes in Germany GE Commercial Finance Real Estate has entered the German public housing market with the purchase of the [euro]190m HPE Hausbau Group. The group, bought from Peabody Funds and managed by...

Rockspring adds Paris and Madrid to network.
April 1, 2005... Fund manager Rockspring Property Investment Managers has opened offices in Paris and Madrid. The openings are part of plans to decentralise Rockspring's asset management and transaction activities to European offices following its management...

European investment market tops [euro]100bn.
April 1, 2005... The European direct investment market topped [euro]100bn in 2004, according to the latest research from CB Richard Ellis. The [euro]103.6bn of investment recorded in 2004 was a 26% increase on 2003. The cross-border share of the European...

Prague provides second buy for TMW Pramerica.
April 1, 2005... TMW Pramerica has bought the Koospol office building in Prague for its central Europe fund for [euro]29m. The building, which is located between the inner city and the airport, has 20,600m[sup.2] of office space and 387 parking spaces. Citibank...

DekaBank chairman quits after fund row.
April 1, 2005... DekaBank chairman Axel Weber has resigned after casting doubts over the future of the bank's domestic property fund. Weber told Financial Times Deutschland that he was prepared to sell the bank's [euro]6bn German property portfolio at book...

Morgan Stanley moves into German fund management.
April 1, 2005... The US bank aims to launch a global property fund for German public investors by the end of this year and has gained a licence to run spezialfonds for institutions Morgan Stanley has boosted its German operations by acquiring a license to...

Axa and GE deals underline demand for Spanish property.
April 1, 2005... Axa Real Estate Investment Managers has paid Colony Capital [euro]137m for Spanish telecoms company Alcatel's Madrid headquarters. The deal reflects international buyers' continuing demand for Spanish property investments. Around 20,000m[sup.2]...

Singapore investor targets niche UK property sectors.
April 1, 2005... GIC Real Estate joins consortium for [pounds sterling]1bn acquisition of 73 UK hotels and is also targeting the student housing market in a [pounds sterling]350m partnership with Unite Group GIC Real Estate has targeted alternative property...

Pirelli RE enters European arena.
April 1, 2005... Pirelli RE, Italy's biggest property fund manager, plans to target other markets such as France, Germany and central and eastern Europe. A spokeswoman for the company said the foray into central and eastern Europe will be either by acquisition...

Aberdeen sets up shop in German property market.
April 1, 2005... Aberdeen Property Investors (API) is the latest international player to join the fray in the German property market by setting up an office in Cologne. API chief executive Rickard Backlund said Germany is a key market in terms of size and...

Freeport lands site on the C"te d'Azur.
April 1, 2005... Factory outlet operator Freeport has bought its second French site. It plans to build a 46,450m[sup.2] retail and leisure scheme on an 18.2ha site at Le Cannet des Maures on the C"te d'Azur. The UK-based company, which quit its domestic market...

HDG joins Swedish investment trend.
April 1, 2005... Islamic investor HDG Mansur has bought an office building in Kista, outside Stockholm, from Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Fund for [euro]60m. The deal reflects a yield of 6.75%. The lease for the building, which is let to mobile phone maker...

UK ends stamp duty breaks but opens door to REITs.
April 1, 2005... Budget measures to end stamp duty exemptions sparked rush to close deals The UK government made a surprise abolition of stamp duty exemption in "deprived areas" in its Budget last month but gave the green light to real estate investment trusts....

Pradera reclaims Henderson stake.
April 1, 2005... Fund manager Pradera-AM has bought back the 50% stake it sold to Henderson Global Investors in 2000. Pradera chairman Paul Whight said: "Henderson's recent aspiration to become a fund manager in eurozone out-of-town retail has meant that its...

Euronews in brief.
April 1, 2005... IPD gauges regeneration Regeneration projects delivered average returns of 11.2% per year between 1995 and 2003, compared with a UK average of 11.4%, according to a pilot UK Urban Regeneration Index from IPD. The index, which is based on 559...

Metrovacesa bids [euro]5.5bnto unite Madrid and Paris.
April 1, 2005... Spanish company's bid for France's Gecina could create eurozone's largest property firm Metrovacesa's [euro]5.5bn bid for Gecina last month transformed what looked to be a one-off cross-border deal - Inmobiliaria Colonial's acquisition of...

Private buyers book a place in recovering hotels market.
April 1, 2005... Wealthy individuals and international funds are among the new buyers targeting hotels Last year the hotel industry started to show a return to the coveted trading levels of 2000, after surviving a massive fall in customers during the two years...

Retail is the special attraction.
April 1, 2005... Investors are targeting niche assets such as retail warehouses or industrial assets in central Europe for the best returns, according to EuroProperty's latest investor intentions survey Investors are turning to specialist sectors across Europe...

Tough times call for fresh approaches.
April 1, 2005... Mipim, the annual property exhibition held in Cannes last month, is always a good opportunity to take the temperature of the market. So it was interesting this year to hear the views of fund managers. There were no complaints at the fund...

People.
April 1, 2005... Morgan Stanley names German MDs Morgan Stanley Real Estate has appointed Walter Klug, Klaus Kortebein and Dietmar Riemenschneider as managing directors for its German operations. Klug, who will oversee sales and marketing, corporate strategy...

Paris challenges London for investment top spot.
April 1, 2005... The French capital is now Continental Europe's number one investment market and is catching up on London In 2004, London saw a record [euro]13.6bn of investment deals - nearly 50% up on 2004. It's a formidable total, but look out, here comes...

Heard in the Eurolounge.
April 1, 2005... It's no holiday at the Cannes Hilton Some property professionals couldn't make up their minds in Cannes which property show they preferred: Mipim or Expo in Munich. Both shows draw the same amount of visitors - around 17,000 - and have had...

Barclays Capital.
April 1, 2005... The investment banking division of Barclays aims to become a major player in the securitisation market with its Eclipse conduit programme The property and investment community is taking more and more notice of Barclays Capital, the investment...

Richmond Developments.
April 1, 2005... Since 2000, the Paris-based asset manager has been teaming up with co-investors for deals and developments in France. The Redhammer fund with Apollo is its latest joint venture Paris-based asset manager Richmond Developments has just launched a...

ATP Real Estate.
April 1, 2005... Denmark's ATP Real Estate, a subsidiary of Europe's fifth largest pension fund, is building up its indirect property holdings with a [euro]600m programme of investments in a range of funds Denmark's ATP Real Estate is a relatively new shopper...

Lar Sol.
April 1, 2005... The Grupo Lar subsidiary, which develops second homes along the Iberian coastline, recently formed a [euro]500m joint venture with Morgan Stanley's MSREF vehicle to build 5,000 homes Lar Sol is the youngest of Grupo Lar's five business...

Teesland.
April 1, 2005... The fund manager has raised [euro]193m for its second industrial fund since extending its European presence with last year's purchase of Property Fund Management European property fund and asset manager Teesland has just completed the second...

Miller Developments.
April 1, 2005... The UK-based developer/investor has expanded into continental Europe with joint-venture retail schemes in Portugal and Hungary. Its latest project is a Danish factory outlet centre The UK's Miller Developments has just signed an agreement to...

Occupiers.
April 1, 2005... Corporate property outsourcing continues apace in the retail sector, while government property disposals are also keeping investors supplied with product across Europe The corporate property community continues to do philosophical battle with...

Governments seek new paths to raise cash from property.
April 1, 2005... France, Belgium, Italy and Germany are boosting their coffers and feeding property markets with a wealth of asset sales, while the UK is planning a new wave of disposals Any difficulties corporations have found in negotiating sale-and-leaseback...

Companies bid to hang on to the family silver.
April 1, 2005... Some occupiers in the US are questioning the value of property outsourcing If property consultants and lawyers are to be believed, it is a waste of money for companies to own the buildings they occupy. Instead, they should free up capital by...

Retailers add property to the high-street sales.
April 1, 2005... Retailers have provided the big deals while office occupiers have scaled back their ambitions Corporate sale-and-leaseback deals have arrived on the high street. While ambitious plans by office occupiers to dispose of swathes of corporate...

Banks and law firms make a move to cheaper space.
April 1, 2005... While a lack of sector-specific data makes it hard to identify trends in space use , a CWHB study suggests that banks, IT and law firms are consolidating into lower-cost offices The in-house research teams of most international property...

Commercial demand rises in the east.
April 1, 2005... Commercial property requirements are rising strongly in the emerging economies of eastern Europe and Asia, as low labour costs and increased corporate investment boost demand, according to the Global Property Survey from the UK's Royal...

Key data: Non-listed.
April 1, 2005... The Netherlands performs well in new INREV consultation index INREV 2004 index to be launched in April................................. .......................................... Deals by German open-ended funds, February...

UK property returns hit 11-year high.
April 1, 2005... UK property turned in its strongest performance for 11 years in 2004, with overall returns rising to 18.3% from 10.9% in 2003, according to the latest IPD figures. Property was the UK's best performing asset class; equities produced a 12.8%...

Key data: Non-listed sector.
April 1, 2005... Investors withdrew almost [euro]1bn from German funds in February Deka experienced capital outflows of [euro]640m February was another tough month for the German open-ended sector as it lost almost [euro]1bn. The sector's net inflow is just...

Key data: The listed sector.
April 1, 2005... Sweden led as Europe index continued to rise North America edged up while Asian index went into reverse The EPRA Europe Index continued to do well in February, rising 1.2%. Sweden led the major countries with a 6.2% rise (in local currency)...

Key data: Non-listed sector.
April 1, 2005... Four major funds had first closings in March IPD figures show 2004 was record year for UK property returns Deals by German open-ended funds, February 2005................................................ DB Real Estate has sold assets in...

Investors buy into burgeoning factory outlets sector.
April 1, 2005... An investment market for factory outlets became firmly established last year, according to Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker (CWHB). Two big portfolio deals took place in the UK, including Freeport's sale to Hermes of a four-centre portfolio...

ING funds set to unlock corporate disposals market.
April 1, 2005... Dutch fund manager plans to launch offshore unit trusts into which companies can sell their property ING Real Estate Investment Management is set to shake up the corporate sale-and-leaseback market with the launch of a product that allows...

Shoe retailer provides right fit for IXIS AEW vehicle.
April 1, 2005... European Property fund (EPI) has bought a 21-asset city-centre retail portfolio from shoe retailer Salamander for [euro]100m. Fund manager IXIS AEW Europe (IAE) said the properties, totalling 34,200m[sup.2], are prime retail assets in A1...

Metrovacesa eyes Gecina for cross-border takeover.
April 1, 2005... Metrovacesa has launched a [euro]5.5bn bid to buy French company Gecina, in a deal that would create the eurozone's largest property company. The Spanish company bought 30% of Gecina from insurers AGF and Azur-GMF for [euro]89.75 per share to a...

Office specialist Oslo Areal prepares to float in Norway.
April 1, 2005... The company plans to add more central Oslo office assets to its [euro]428m portfolio Norwegian property company Oslo Areal is to float in the next two months. The company, which has a NKr3.5bn ([euro]428m) portfolio, was set up last Autumn by...

KanAm pays [euro]47m for debut Spanish purchase.
April 1, 2005... KanAm's grundinvest fund has paid around [euro]47m for Madrid office building Edificio Princ, in its debut Spanish purchase. The seven-storey complex has been let until 2016 to Spanish energy company Enagas. It consists of two separate...

Meinl backs shopping spree with [euro]560m capital raising.
April 1, 2005... Meinl European Land has raised [euro]560m through a capital hike to finance its planned acquisitions in central and eastern Europe. At the beginning of March, the Austrian investor issued 42m new shares at [euro]13.65 a share. Following the...

Deutsche Bank and Pirelli land [euro]888m Italian retailer.
April 1, 2005... The consortium will reposition the chain's retail as well as property operations Deutsche Bank Real Estate Opportunities Group (DB REOG) and Pirelli Real Estate have teamed up with Italian retail experts for the [euro]888m acquisition of La...

Fund deal gives Dutch investors a bit of Insight.
April 1, 2005... UK fund manager Insight Investment has placed a tranche of shares in its UK REIT-style vehicles with Dutch investors. The 50m shares, sold by Clerical Medical, signal the first international investment for the Insight Foundation Property Trust....

Immoeast enters Russia via FF&P stake.
April 1, 2005... Immoeast, a unit of Austria's Immofinanz, has entered the Russian market by buying a 25.86% stake in Russian property company Fleming Family & Partners (FF&P) Russia Real Estate. FF&P has $60m in equity and is building a $150-170m property...

Former Deka fund manager Koch sets up own agency.
April 1, 2005... Michael Koch, the former managing director of German fund Deka Immobilien Invest, has set up his own agency. Koch told EuroProperty that he was working with "a small handful of clients trying to solve their property problems". Koch was sacked...

KanAm snaps up mixed-use London building.
April 1, 2005... German open-ended fund KanAm has paid around [euro]200m for 90 High Holborn in London WC1. The 17,234m[sup.2] building was built in 2002 and is located between the City and West End. The main tenant is Olswang Solcitors, which has a lease...

UBS team enters lending market.
April 1, 2005... UBS has launched a new property lending team and has plans to set up a European securitisation programme. The new business is headed by Wilson Lee, who launched Lehman Brother's European Real Estate business in 1996, and as its managing...

Europa Capital pays [euro]55m for first Hungarian investment.
April 1, 2005... The central Budapest West Square office development was bought on behalf of the company's Europa Fund ll, which has now spent [euro]300m on European acquisitions Europa Capital (EC) has made its Hungarian debut with the purchase of a prime...

Agency marks down SEB over accounting practices.
April 1, 2005... Rating agency Scope has downgraded SEB ImmoInvest's rating to BBB from A- due to accounting practices applied by the fund manager. Scope maintained its "hold" rating. Scope claims investors lost out on [euro]30m in dividends between 2001 and...

Soros and Colonial cut French stakes.
April 1, 2005... Two French property companies have increased their number of free-float shares through private placements. Soros Real Estate Investors has sold its stake in French property company Societe de la Tour Eiffel (STE) to French and international...

Resolution ponders disposal of Swedish retail portfolio.
April 1, 2005... UK-based investor Resolution Property is considering selling a portfolio of five retail parks in Sweden. Talks have been held with potential investors, but a deal has yet to be agreed. Resolution bought the portfolio in December 2001 from...

Carlyle to run the show at Hamburg's UFA Theater.
April 1, 2005... The Carlyle Group has bought a nine-storey, mixed-use building in Hamburg's central business district from the liquidator of UFA Theater for an undisclosed sum. It is Carlyle's third deal in the German market. The 12,000m[sup.2] building...

Pramerica creates global equities fund.
April 1, 2005... Pramerica Real Estate Investors has set up a property equities division and launched a global property securities fund. The Worldwide Investors Portfolio - Global Real Estate Securities Fund, which has $10m in seed capital, will be 50%...

Landmark Amsterdam hotel changes hands.
April 1, 2005... The InterContinental Hotels Group has sold Amsterdam's 174-room American Hotel to The Eden Hotel Group for [euro]37m. The landmark building is on the city's Leides Plein. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, which advised the vendor, said it attracted a...

GE carves [euro]190m niche in German housing market.
April 1, 2005... US investor gains control of 4,400 homes in Germany GE Commercial Finance Real Estate has entered the German public housing market with the purchase of the [euro]190m HPE Hausbau Group. The group, bought from Peabody Funds and managed by...

Rockspring adds Paris and Madrid to network.
April 1, 2005... Fund manager Rockspring Property Investment Managers has opened offices in Paris and Madrid. The openings are part of plans to decentralise Rockspring's asset management and transaction activities to European offices following its management...

European investment market tops [euro]100bn.
April 1, 2005... The European direct investment market topped [euro]100bn in 2004, according to the latest research from CB Richard Ellis. The [euro]103.6bn of investment recorded in 2004 was a 26% increase on 2003. The cross-border share of the European...

Prague provides second buy for TMW Pramerica.
April 1, 2005... TMW Pramerica has bought the Koospol office building in Prague for its central Europe fund for [euro]29m. The building, which is located between the inner city and the airport, has 20,600m[sup.2] of office space and 387 parking spaces. Citibank...

DekaBank chairman quits after fund row.
April 1, 2005... DekaBank chairman Axel Weber has resigned after casting doubts over the future of the bank's domestic property fund. Weber told Financial Times Deutschland that he was prepared to sell the bank's [euro]6bn German property portfolio at book...

Morgan Stanley moves into German fund management.
April 1, 2005... The US bank aims to launch a global property fund for German public investors by the end of this year and has gained a licence to run spezialfonds for institutions Morgan Stanley has boosted its German operations by acquiring a license to...