Euro Property articles from December 2006

Euro Property archives from December 2006

CBRE aims for Euro assets with launch of two vehicles.
December 1, 2006... CB Richard Ellis Investors has launched two new European funds. The closed-ended Pan-European Alpha Plus Fund will be looking for annual returns ranging between 11% and 14%. The second new vehicle, called the Semi Open-Ended Europe Ex-UK...

Europolis 3 buys Kiev office complex at record low yield.
December 1, 2006... Unlisted opportunity vehicle acquires prime Podil Plaza office scheme for 38.2m, in a deal that pushes Kiev yields below 10%, following a doubling of city office rents The $50m (38.6m) sale of a prime office building in the Ukrainian...

Morgan Stanley to launch [euro]6.1bn fund.
December 1, 2006... Morgan Stanley is aiming to raise $8bn (6.1bn) in equity for its sixth property opportunity fund, making it the largest such fund in history. The investment bank is set to complete fund raising next year. The fund, Morgan Stanley Real...

Arlington Business Park Partnership buys Akeler UK portfolio for [euro]886m.
December 1, 2006... The Arlington Business Park Partnership fund has bought asset manager Akeler's UK portfolio from Macquarie Global Property Advisors' MGPA Fund 1 for [pounds sterling]600m (886.3m). ABPP, which is managed by Macquarie Goodman subsidiary...

SEB acquires [euro]150m tower in Rotterdam.
December 1, 2006... The Netherlands' soon-to-be largest tower has been sold by Dutch developer OVG to SEB for 150m. The Maas Tower development, with a height of 165m, will be the country's tallest tower when completed in 2008. Located on the banks of the...

Vendors seek quick profit in Warsaw and Prague...
December 1, 2006... Signa and London & Regional aim to quickly re-sell office blocks as yields plummet Two Central European office buildings that changed hands only six months ago have been offered to investors at higher prices. The 70,000m[sup.2] Park...

London & Regional lists [euro]1.9bn Nordic property portfolio.
December 1, 2006... Livingstone brothers' private equity vehicle joins trend for property flotations by listing an 84-asset portfolio UK private equity company London & Regional has floated a 1.9bn portfolio of Nordic properties on the AIM segment of the...

...as bidding for Bucharest park pushes yields to new low.
December 1, 2006... Bucharest is set for a new record-low yield on office development with investors offering bids of around 95m for Phase 2 of the Bucharest Business Park, developed by Apollo. Sources suggest that the building may go for a net initial yield...

KanAm buys Antwerp mixed-use complex for [euro]230m.
December 1, 2006... German fund manager KanAm has bought the Kievitplein complex in Antwerp from Robelco for around 230m, a 5.5% yield. The complex consists of 56,000m[sup.2] of office space, a 16,300m[sup.2] hotel, which will be operated by Accor,...

Tamweelview wins battle for trophy Stockholm offices.
December 1, 2006... Arab investor pays Diligentia 440m for the 60,000m[sup.2] Sturekvarteret scheme at a yield of below 4%, representing a record low for the city's office market Arab investor Tamweelview has paid SKr4bn (440m) for the Sturekvarteret property...

Anthracite Euro debt issue catches fire.
December 1, 2006... Europe's first real estate collateralised debt obligation (CDO) has been issued. The 276m "Anthracite Euro CRE CDO 2006" issue is a collection of long-term forward-rate, commercial mortgage-backed securities and subordinate real estate...

In brief.
December 1, 2006... Hypo in 300m debt deal Hypo Real Estate Bank has provided 300m debt to Niam Nordic Investment Fund III to finance the purchase of Swedish offices from Norwegian investor Acta (see EuroProperty, November). In a separate deal, Hypo Real...

Rutley prepares [euro]296m listing on two markets.
December 1, 2006... Rutley European Property plans to list on the London Stock Exchange and the Channel Islands' stock exchanges and hopes to raise [pounds sterling]200m (296.2m). The private Guernsey company has so far spent [pounds sterling]167m (247.4m) on...

ING makes [euro]1bn Euro FOF debut.
December 1, 2006... ING Real Estate Investment Management has launched its first continental European fund of funds. The firm hopes to increase its value to 1bn in three years. The Eurosiris Fund will invest in core and core-plus property funds, with a...

Invista looks for [euro]700m from flotation of flagship fund.
December 1, 2006... Invista plans to raise [pounds sterling]166m (245.5m) with the flotation of its flagship continental European fund. The listed UK fund manager said the initial public offering would give Invista European Real Estate Trust SICAF 700m of...

Dutch duo snap up Hannibal portfolio.
December 1, 2006... Deka has sold its Hannibal portfolio to Dutch investors Tom Moeskops and Harrie van de Moesdijk for 700m. "We're now just working on the fine tuning," said Moeskops. The Hannibal portfolio, which produces an annual rental income of around...

Pirelli REO to launch funds in quest for higher yields.
December 1, 2006... January launch of office vehicle will be first of nine prompted by new leverage laws Pirelli RE Opportunities is launching nine new funds as part of its drive into higher-yielding vehicles. One of the new office funds will be ready for...

Kuwaiti bank's Shari'ah fund targets European assets.
December 1, 2006... National Bank of Kuwait has launched a 1bn Shari'ah-compliant diversified property fund to invest in Europe. The Islamic European Real Estate Fund is a long-term, closed vehicle designed to achieve a 12%-15% annual internal rate of return...

Australian investors' Euro fund set for [euro]400m listing.
December 1, 2006... Babcock & Brown and General Property Trust's fund, which has assembled a 1.5bn portfolio of European retail property, is set for flotation on Amsterdam exchange Babcock & Brown and General Property Trust (GPT) could raise more than 400m...

ING divisions strike deal for stake in Dutch Office Fund.
December 1, 2006... ING's Australian-listed office fund has bought a 20%-share in ING's Dutch Office Fund for 267.5m. The stake was sold by ING Insurance, which wants to cut its exposure to the Dutch market. The sale enabled ING Insurance to cut its holding...

Blackstone eyes US REIT EOP for biggest-ever deal.
December 1, 2006... Blackstone Real Estate Partners is to buy Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties Trust for $36bn (27.9bn) in the largest property deal ever. Private equity group Blackstone is offering $48.50 per share for EOP, the largest US REIT, valuing...

Raven flies into Russia for first logistics projects.
December 1, 2006... AIM-listed Raven Russia has acquired its first two logistics projects in Russia. The deals are a first step in the company's proposed $775m (604m) programme to develop warehouse space in 14 cities across Russia and the Commonwealth of...

Metrovacesa shuns Eastern European route to growth.
December 1, 2006... Metrovacesa, Spain's largest property company, has said that it has no plans to follow other Spanish investors into Eastern Europe. Although it is looking to expand abroad to escape an overheated domestic market, it has said that it does...

Kwik-Fit gets sale of service-centre portfolio on the road.
December 1, 2006... Kwik-Fit Holdings is marketing 311 motorist service centres in the UK, Holland and France. Kwik-Fit's 149 Speedy centres in France make up nearly half of the total portfolio earmarked for a sale-and-leaseback deal that could raise more...

State of Kuwait pays [euro]584m for biggest mall in Europe.
December 1, 2006... Kuwaiti investment arm St Martins gains foothold in Turkey with Cevahir acquisition Europe's largest shopping centre, The Cevahir mall in Istanbul, has been sold to St Martins, the investment arm of the state of Kuwait. St Martins...

Breevast secures 99-office MPC portfolio in Netherlands.
December 1, 2006... Dutch investor Breevast has bought the MPC portfolio in the Netherlands. The domestic investor refused to reveal how much it paid for the 99 offices, with a total floor space of 530,000m[sup.2], but a source familiar with the portfolio put...

DBRE set to slash domestic fund with record assets sale.
December 1, 2006... Fund manager follows CGI, Difa and Deka by preparing sale of domestic assets, in a move that would shrink Grundbesitz-Invest fund to less than a sixth of its 2005 value DB Real Estate has hit the market with the biggest portfolio sale ever...

U-turn excludes housing from G-REITs.
December 1, 2006... The German finance ministry has surprised the property industry by excluding residential assets from German REITs, set for launch on 1 January 2007. In an earlier document, the finance minister had included residential assets. The U-turn...

In brief.
December 1, 2006... Agents step up CEE presence Property consultants are expanding their Central and Eastern European presence, with Savills opening a new office in Budapest, headed by Peter Chatfield, previously of Colliers in Prague, and retail property...

Finnish state comes under fire after Kapiteeli sell-0ff.
December 1, 2006... Losing bidder Samson claims state accepted inferior offer from company it has a stake in Investors that lose an auction seldom go on the record and air their frustrations. Not wanting to risk their chances in further auctions, they prefer...

Sales rescue German funds.
December 1, 2006... German open-ended funds, in the doldrums this time last year, are now feeling bullish after selling a number of large portfolios. With liquidity improved, acquisitions are on the cards The concierge of the City Tower in Offenbach reportedly...

Nationalism shouldn't skew a fair deal.
December 1, 2006... Transparency International recently published its annual corruption perceptions index. At the top of the list are the countries perceived to be least corrupt, and the Finnish have held the number-one position for many years. This year they...

People.
December 1, 2006... Heijkoop quits Jones Lang LaSalle Eric Heijkoop has resigned as co-managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle in Amsterdam after a series of disagreements with his former partner, Eric de Clercq Zubli. Heijkoop now plans to set up his own...

Heard in the Eurolounge.
December 1, 2006... The art of using inside information A bit of inside information never hurts, as Dutch Rabobank chairman Hans ten Cate discovered recently. Ten Cate bought Bouwfonds for ABN Amro in the late 1990s and this summer he added Bouwfonds' asset...

An interesting time to say auf wiedersehen Savills.
December 1, 2006... Chris Bull-Diamond reflects on German property's boom- and-bust development during his 33 years in the market I am leaving Savills Germany at a very interesting time for the country. The economic situation is improving, but Germany is not...

Grupo Lar.
December 1, 2006... The Spanish developer has 89% of its business in its domestic market, but is planning to increase its presence in foreign markets, including Mexico, Germany and Eastern Europe Grupo Lar has tightened up its operation in its Spanish home...

Gagfah.
December 1, 2006... The German housing company's share price performance has been strong, pushed by its association with Fortress. But it uses an unusual structure and unusual accounting practices Before Fortress floated housing company Gagfah in late October,...

Inmocaral.
December 1, 2006... The property investor and developer is becoming the second biggest in Spain by swallowing Colonial and is expanding abroad with the takeover of France's Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise At the Barcelona Meeting Point property conference last...

Office performance.
December 1, 2006... Higher interest rates did not put off investors in offices this year, as yield compression and rental growth continued . A shortage of grade A space in 2007 will keep rents rising Offices' strong performance in Europe this year has...

Arcapita.
December 1, 2006... The asset manager, which invests on behalf of wealthy individuals and institutions in the Gulf region, plans to expand its European industrial business, working with joint-venture partners Bahrain-based asset manager Arcapita has unveiled...

New lease of life beckons for funds facing the end.
December 1, 2006... Rather than taking their money from the many property funds set to terminate in the next few years, increasingly sophisticated investors may vote to extend the vehicles' lives A healthy pan-European investment market and cheap finance are...

The going gets tougher in Fantasy ll: the sequel.
December 1, 2006... Entrants are invited to play core and high-yield markets as Fantasy Fund Manager returns Following the success of last year's Fantasy Fund Manager competition, which attracted more than 250 entrants, the contest will return in 2007. A wave...

Apsys.
December 1, 2006... The French retail developer, stifled by red tape, looked to Poland's growing market. But with growth slowing there, Apsys is rediscovering its homeland French retail developer Apsys International is perhaps more well known in Poland than...

Rental growth takes leading role in 2007 offices story.
December 1, 2006... Rent rises are likely to attract investors back to core Western European markets next year The continuing rate of yield compression in 2006 came as a shock to many in the property business. Now they are predicting that rental growth, not...

London and Paris lead European rents revival.
December 1, 2006... A lack of good-quality stock and renewed demand are pushing rents up across Europe The revival in tenant demand across Europe's major office markets is set to continue next year, where an absence of rental growth will be the exception, say...

Host and donor do well in outsourcing operations.
December 1, 2006... Research by Experian for EuroProperty suggests that companies' overseas outsourcing of service and back-office functions does not necessarily harm domestic office demand Moving jobs abroad to save on labour costs often gets a bad press....

Key data: INREV.
December 1, 2006... REIT launches will not adversely affect unlisted funds, INREV says France is set to launch new unlisted vehicle Non-listed funds association INREV says the impact of REITs on unlisted real estate vehicles is "not yet clear". While REIT...

Key data: The listed sector.
December 1, 2006... Sweden was October's best performer, with a 5.3% rise Keops and Gagfah were the leading individual stocks The EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index rose a further 4.9% in October. The UK gained 6%, the Netherlands 1.6% and France 3.8%, while Sweden...

Key data: Occupiers.
December 1, 2006... CBRE reveals costliest places to rent offices Shortage of space may boost Eastern European occupancy costs London's West End leads list of expensive office space London, Paris and Dublin are among the 10 most expensive office markets...

Key data: German open-ended funds.
December 1, 2006... Fund sector returns to positive net inflows AXA, Credit Suisse and SEB have launched new open-ended funds Germany's open-ended funds experienced net inflows of 529.6m in October, compared with outflows of 327m in September. But last...

Key data: Non-listed sector.
December 1, 2006... Halverton targets German offices with 120m fund Another ECB rate hike is likely despite signs of a slowdown Medium-term euro rates have fallen over the past month and the yield curve has become very flat after allowing for a further two...

Office performance Rental index & yields.
December 1, 2006... Bear Stearns duo to lead European lending push Bear Stearns has named Stephen Haskin and Steve Williams as co-heads of its European commercial real estate lending business, which it plans to expand for both securitised and non-securitised...