Euro Property articles from May 2007

Euro Property archives from May 2007

Funds of funds catch fire.
May 7, 2007... Though multi-manager vehicles are less than three years old, they have already established themselves with a growing number of investors. But a global product is still in the worksIn the two-and-a-half years since Aberdeen Property Investors...

The best of both worlds.
May 7, 2007... Funds that allow only limited redemption are finding favour with managersProperty fund managers are in a quandary. Fully open-ended funds have shown the extent of their vulnerability to "runs" that severely limit their operations, but...

Needed: consistency in the calculation of fees.
May 7, 2007... INREV to advise on a standardised format for total expense ratio and other measurements The fees that institutional investors pay to the fund manager help determine which property fund to invest in. Yet no standardised measure of fees and...

How to track down idle cash.
May 7, 2007... As competition for European assets heats up, INREV has revealed the investment strategies, such as geographical diversity, that yield large amounts of uninvested capital With fund groups locked in competition, many managers are struggling to...

Morley holds top place in 2007 managers' survey.
May 7, 2007... Expanded pool of respondents reveal European fund managers' attitudes and client-driven areas of focusMore fund managers than ever responded to the EuroProperty fund managers' survey, carried out in conjunction with INREV. The 77 respondents...

ING and Morley lead Europe's top achievers.
May 7, 2007... New survey entrants, and growth from regulars fuelled by another year of outperformance for property assets, are revealed in this year's EuroProperty/INREV fund managers' surveyThe European property fund management industry has seen another 12...

Steen & Strom.
May 7, 2007... Norway-based retail investment and management company Steen & Strom has its sights set on Sweden's more liquid market while it redevelops its Norwegian assetsShopping centres are the flavour of the month in Scandinavia, and one company...

What office occupiers want.
May 7, 2007... Instead of just rental cost, questions of sustainability, image, and employee density are determining where office-based companies move. And these factors vary across EuropeUnderstanding an occupier's wishes is important to any landlord...

Key data: recent deals, macroeconomic data.
May 7, 2007... - Lehman Brothers/Atemi's 2.1bn Coeur Defense deal in Paris sets record - Russia sees rise in GDP growth- In April, Lehman Brothers and Atemi clinched the Continent's biggest single-asset deal. The Coeur Defense building in Paris, which...

Martinsa.
May 7, 2007... After its takeover of rival Fadesa, Fernando Martin's property development company will soon be the biggest in Spain, with a 26m m2 land bank and visions of building 300,000 new homes in Spain and elsewhereThe fortunes of Real Madrid football...

Higher GDP and demand push up prime rents.
May 7, 2007... Low vacancy levels and economic growth increase take-up of high-quality office space Strong economic growth and business confidence is driving prime office rents up in half of Europe's main cities.Relocation and expansion will keep demand for...

Rental and GP growth bursts talk of a bubble.
May 7, 2007... Pessimism about the UK property market's immediate future may not be warranted, with 8-10% returns predicted Talk in the financial press has been that a bubble is forming in the UK commercial real estate sector, following the strong returns of...

Investments you can trust?
May 7, 2007... Real estate investment trusts are coming to Italy and Germany, and the UK is just getting to grips with them. They won't revolutionise the property market and fail to excite investorsItaly is to become the third European country to introduce...

When does a gift become a bribe?
May 7, 2007... A recent German court case illustrates the importance of strict, enforceable rules on ethicsIn the autumn of 2004, a few months after he was sacked as Deka's country manager for Germany for taking bribes relating to property deals for a Deka...

European occupiers seek space to move.
May 7, 2007... This year's EuroProperty/Nelson Bakewell survey of occupiers' intentions reveals that businesses would rather relocate than expand and prefer greater Europe over Asia Vacant space is becoming scarce and European occupiers are more likely to...

Occupiers.
May 7, 2007... Commercial tenants in Europe are eyeing growth areas outside central business districts as well as Eastern Europe. And issues of sustainability are slowly coming to the foreAnyone who's been an occupier for more than a few years will know that...

Henderson links up with mfi to create retail fund.
May 7, 2007... German property fund manager and Henderson create 2bn shopping centre vehicle that will target 7.5% returns based on strong German economic growthHenderson Global Investors and Germany's mfi (Management fur Immobilien) have joined forces to...

JLL lifts Dutch presence with Troostwijk buyout.
May 7, 2007... Jones Lang LaSalle has bought Dutch property consultancy Troostwijk. Although no financial details of the deal were disclosed, market observers speculate that JLL must have paid between 20m and 25m for the Dutch firm, given that Troostwijk...

Astroc panic hits Spanish shares.
May 7, 2007... Audited company accounts spark massive sell-offThe Spanish property sector came close to crashing last month, hitting the construction and banking industries and pushing share prices on the Madrid stock exchange down by 2.7%, the second-worst...

Evans Randall buys The Rock at under 5% yield.
May 7, 2007... Evans Randall Investment Management has bought The Rock office building in Amsterdam for 165m, reflecting a gross initial yield of 5.25%-5.5%. The net initial yield is believed to be just under 5%. The 30,000m2 building, of which around...

DekaBank sells Frankfurt office to Morgan Stanley.
May 7, 2007... DekaBank has sold the Trianon building in Frankfurt to Morgan Stanley. No financial details were disclosed, but a person close to the deal put the purchase price at 620m, reflecting a net initial yield of 3.8-4%, a record low for Frankfurt...

In brief.
May 7, 2007... Van der Ende in at INREVINREV, the European association for investors in non-listed real estate vehicles, has appointed Johan van der Ende as its chairman, after Michiel Olland stepped down after four years at the helm, at the annual conference...

INREV index reveals high returns and lower yields.
May 7, 2007... European non-listed real estate funds produced an average return of 20.9% in 2006, according to the INREV's annual index.The analysis of 173 institutional vehicles with assets of 82.8bn was compiled for the industry body by the Investment...

Sacyr and Eiffage square off in court.
May 7, 2007... The row between Spanish construction and property company Sacyr Vallehermoso and French construction company Eiffage continued this month as the two companies took each other to court.Eiffage has accused Sacyr of gathering Spanish investors to...

Savills opens Hamburg office and hires staff.
May 7, 2007... Savills has opened its fourth office in Germany, in Hamburg, and has recruited four directors as well as other staff.The 16-strong team is headed by Lars Breuer, formerly director of investment at Savills's Berlin office. Other directors...

Pramerica buys Amsterdam's INIT building for [euro]96m.
May 7, 2007... Pramerica Real Estate Investors has paid Dutch developer Heijmans 96m for the INIT building in Amsterdam. The gross yield is believed to be 6.5%. The 34,000m2 INIT building, on the banks of the river IJ, houses two tenants: Amsterdam's local...

Homburg Invest buys pair of portfolios from SEB.
May 7, 2007... Canadian investor spends 197m on assets in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania In what is believed to be the largest-ever property deal in the Baltic region, Canadian-investor Homburg Invest has bought two portfolios from Swedish bank SEB for...

Fortis takes Manhattan in sale-and-leaseback.
May 7, 2007... Fortis has signed a nine-year lease for the Manhattan Centre in Brussels.The building is owned by Catalyst Capital and JER Partners. Fortis is leasing 28,950m2 of office space and will move in in December. It is believed that rents will be...

In brief.
May 7, 2007... Glitnir buys LeimdorferIcelandic bank Glitnir has created the Glitnir Property Holding, after it acquired a 70% stake in Leimdorfer. The new entity will also encompass the Norwegian Glitnir Property Group. The transaction will involve Glitnir...

Metrovacesa completes record UK deal.
May 7, 2007... Spanish property company Metrovacesa has bought the HSBC tower in London for [pounds sterling]1.1bn (1.6bn) in the UK's largest single-asset deal.The sale and leaseback deal reflects a yield of 3.99%. Metrovacesa now has a 998-year lease on the...

The INREV annual Index.
May 7, 2007... - Annual returns up to 12.5% from 10.1% in 2005 - France, Norway, Netherlands and the UK are top performersThe INREV Index of non-listed property vehicles returned 12.5% last year, compared with 10.1% in 2005. The 2006 total return of 12.5%...

Teesland iOG launches German value-added vehicle.
May 7, 2007... Teesland iOG has launched a 2bn fund investing in Germany. The fund, the German Aktiv Property Fund, is a value-added fund investing in mixed-use assets needing active management. It will seek to take advantage of a recovery of the German...

Italy's REIT opens door for firms with no track record.
May 7, 2007... Italian lawmakers surprise market by allowing companies on the Expandi market to become a SIIQItaly's new REIT legislation is to allow small companies with little or no real estate history to become a real estate investment trust. The rules...

Portuguese firms condemnblanket VAT-avoidance laws.
May 7, 2007... Major real estate players tell government that rules on the reclamation of VAT payments on property purchases are damaging the country's investment marketPortugal's major property companies, agents and investment funds are lobbying the...

Vector to list first European hotel REIT.
May 7, 2007... Europe's first hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) is to list on the London Stock Exchange this month. The company, Vector Hospitality, expects to raise [pounds sterling]2bn (2.9bn) from its [pounds sterling]2.6bn portfolio of 71 hotels,...

CGI to unload dotcom relic.
May 7, 2007... Commerz Grundbesitz Invest (CGI) has agreed to sell one of the most problematic office complexes in Amsterdam: the Atlas building in the south-east of Amsterdam (Zuidoost). The 75,513m2 1980s-era property, of which some 40,000m2 is vacant, was...

Tishman Speyer.
May 7, 2007... The US-based trading and development company specialises in prime offices in major cities around the world, and manages a number of fundsPrivate real estate owner, developer and investor Tishman Speyer Properties is used to trading in trophy...

Sales growth powers JLL and CBRE Q1 results.(Financial report)
May 7, 2007... Property price boom helps leading UK-based property consultants post increased revenue and profit figures, with takings from EMEA activities particularly strongJones Lang LaSalle and CB Richard Ellis have posted strong sales growth in the first...

Five Polish centres in MacQuarie 's Euro debut.
May 7, 2007... Australian fund manager MacQuarie CountryWide Trust has made its European debut with the purchase of five shopping centres in Poland and two centres in Germany for a total of 351m.In two separate deals, it paid 232m to Simon Ivanhoe for the...

Teesland buys Bucharest industrial park from Cefin.
May 7, 2007... European fund manager Teesland iOG has acquired the majority of the A1 Industrial Park in Bucharest, Romania, for its Central European Industrial Fund (CEIF) for 59m from Italian developer Cefin Group.The transaction is Romania's biggest...

Italy's REIT opens door for firms with no track record.
May 7, 2007... Italian lawmakers surprise market by allowing companies on the Expandi market to become a SIIQ Italy's new REIT legislation is to allow small companies with little or no real estate history to become a real estate investment trust. The...

Sales growth powers JLL and CBRE Q1 results.(Financial report)
May 7, 2007... Property price boom helps leading UK-based property consultants post increased revenue and profit figures, with takings from EMEA activities particularly strong Jones Lang LaSalle and CB Richard Ellis have posted strong sales growth in the...

Teesland buys Bucharest industrial park from Cefin.
May 7, 2007... European fund manager Teesland iOG has acquired the majority of the A1 Industrial Park in Bucharest, Romania, for its Central European Industrial Fund (CEIF) for C59m from Italian developer Cefin Group. The transaction is Romania's biggest...

Five Polish centres in MacQuarie's Euro debut.
May 7, 2007... Australian fund manager MacQuarie CountryWide Trust has made its European debut with the purchase of five shopping centres in Poland and two centres in Germany for a total of 351m. In two separate deals, it paid 232m to Simon Ivanhoe for...

In brief.
May 7, 2007... Glitnir buys Leimdorfer Icelandic bank Glitnir has created the Glitnir Property Holding, after it acquired a 70% stake in Leimdorfer. The new entity will also encompass the Norwegian Glitnir Property Group. The transaction will involve...

Homburg Invest buys pair of portfolios from SEB.
May 7, 2007... Canadian investor spends C197m on assets in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania In what is believed to be the largest-ever property deal in the Baltic region, Canadian-investor Homburg Invest has bought two portfolios from Swedish bank SEB for...

Metrovacesa completes record UK deal.
May 7, 2007... Spanish property company Metrovacesa has bought the HSBC tower in London for [pounds sterling]1.1bn (C1.6bn) in the UK's largest single-asset deal. The sale and leaseback deal reflects a yield of 3.99%. Metrovacesa now has a 998-year lease...

Teesland iOG launches German value-added vehicle.
May 7, 2007... Teesland iOG has launched a C2bn fund investing in Germany. The fund, the German Aktiv Property Fund, is a value-added fund investing in mixed-use assets needing active management. It will seek to take advantage of a recovery of the German...

CGI to unload dotcom relic.
May 7, 2007... Commerz Grundbesitz Invest (CGI) has agreed to sell one of the most problematic office complexes in Amsterdam: the Atlas building in the south-east of Amsterdam (Zuidoost). The 75,513m2 1980s-era property, of which some 40,000m2 is vacant,...

Fortis takes Manhattan in sale-and-leaseback.
May 7, 2007... Fortis has signed a nine-year lease for the Manhattan Centre in Brussels. The building is owned by Catalyst Capital and JER Partners. Fortis is leasing 28,950m2 of office space and will move in in December. It is believed that rents will...

Vector to list first European hotel REIT.
May 7, 2007... Europe's first hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) is to list on the London Stock Exchange this month. The company, Vector Hospitality, expects to raise [pounds sterling]2bn (C2.9bn) from its [pounds sterling]2.6bn portfolio of 71...

Portuguese firms condemn blanket VAT-avoidance laws.
May 7, 2007... Major real estate players tell government that rules on the reclamation of VAT payments on property purchases are damaging the country's investment market Portugal's major property companies, agents and investment funds are lobbying the...

In brief.
May 7, 2007... Health ministry in Paris let The French health ministry has signed a lease on 3,500m[sup.2] of Paris office space. The department has taken the Mirabeau tower next to the Seine's Andre Citroen quay in Paris's 15th arrondissement, on a...

Astroc panic hits Spanish shares.
May 7, 2007... The Spanish property sector came close to crashing last month, hitting the construction and banking industries and pushing share prices on the Madrid stock exchange down by 2.7%, the second-worst dip in its history. In the crash of 24...

Sacyr and Eiffage square off in court.
May 7, 2007... The row between Spanish construction and property company Sacyr Vallehermoso and French construction company Eiffage continued this month as the two companies took each other to court. Eiffage has accused Sacyr of gathering Spanish...

Evans Randall buys The Rock at under 5% yield.
May 7, 2007... Evans Randall Investment Management has bought The Rock office building in Amsterdam for C165m, reflecting a gross initial yield of 5.25%-5.5%. The net initial yield is believed to be just under 5%. The 30,000m2 building, of which around...

INREV index reveals high returns and lower yields.
May 7, 2007... European non-listed real estate funds produced an average return of 20.9% in 2006, according to the INREV's annual index. The analysis of 173 institutional vehicles with assets of C82.8bn was compiled for the industry body by the Investment...

Savills opens Hamburg office and hires staff.
May 7, 2007... Savills has opened its fourth office in Germany, in Hamburg, and has recruited four directors as well as other staff. The 16-strong team is headed by Lars Breuer, formerly director of investment at Savills's Berlin office. Other...

In brief.
May 7, 2007... Health ministry in Paris let The French health ministry has signed a lease on 3,500m[sup.2] of Paris office space. The department has taken the Mirabeau tower next to the Seine's Andre Citroen quay in Paris's 15th arrondissement, on a...

Henderson links up with mfi to create retail fund.
May 7, 2007... German property fund manager and Henderson create C2bn shopping centre vehicle that will target 7.5% returns based on strong German economic growth Henderson Global Investors and Germany's mfi (Management fur Immobilien) have joined forces...

JLL lifts Dutch presence with Troostwijk buyout.
May 7, 2007... Jones Lang LaSalle has bought Dutch property consultancy Troostwijk. Although no financial details of the deal were disclosed, market observers speculate that JLL must have paid between C20m and C25m for the Dutch firm, given that...

DekaBank sells Frankfurt office to Morgan Stanley.
May 7, 2007... DekaBank has sold the Trianon building in Frankfurt to Morgan Stanley. No financial details were disclosed, but a person close to the deal put the purchase price at C620m, reflecting a net initial yield of 3.8-4%, a record low for...

Pramerica buys Amsterdam's INIT building for [euro]96m.
May 7, 2007... Pramerica Real Estate Investors has paid Dutch developer Heijmans C96m for the INIT building in Amsterdam. The gross yield is believed to be 6.5%. The 34,000m2 INIT building, on the banks of the river IJ, houses two tenants: Amsterdam's...

In brief.
May 7, 2007... Van der Ende in at INREV INREV, the European association for investors in non-listed real estate vehicles, has appointed Johan van der Ende as its chairman, after Michiel Olland stepped down after four years at the helm, at the annual...

Finland's strong fundamentals pull in the foreigners.
May 21, 2007... With economic growth above the EU average and a limited supply of stock, Finland has attracted investment from abroad. Falling yields are the result, especially in retailFinland is becoming increasingly attractive to foreign investors. In the...

Sweden seeks to catch up with its Baltic neighbours.
May 21, 2007... Baltics attract foreign investors, unlike Norway and Denmark, as Sweden moves forwardSince the dotcom bubble burst in 2000, Sweden has suffered from high vacancy rates. Companies went bust, or moved into new buildings and moved out of older...

Key data: The listed sector.
May 21, 2007... - EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index down by 3.5% in April - TK Development leads listed company league table The EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index fell back by 3.5% in April. The UK fell by 4.6% and France was down by 5.1%. But the Netherlands and Sweden added...

Key data: non-listed sector.
May 21, 2007... - Market expects ECB to put rates up to 4% in June - EUR rates rise over fears the ECB will raise short-term rates - The market ended April expecting the ECB not to increase rates again at its May meeting, and expecting the long-discounted...

Hansteen.
May 21, 2007... UK-based industrial property company Hansteen, started by Ashtenne's co-founders, has been buying up assets in secondary locations on the Continent, especially the Netherlands, to package into portfolios for investorsMorgan Jones, one of the...

People.
May 21, 2007... Morley promotes StirlingMorley has promoted Ben Stirling, head of European property to Morley's property executive, the senior management team responsible for managing Morley's property funds under management. The company has also hired four...

The Nordics and the Baltics.
May 21, 2007... Growth is rampant in the economies surrounding the Baltic Sea, and Sweden and Finland's retail property market are the beneficiaries. Investors are also eyeing assets in the Baltic statesThe Nordic economies are booming and the property market...

Threat of office space glut looms as banks fight it out.
May 21, 2007... Europe's banks, encouraged by recent EU deregulation, are embarking on mergers that will shrink job numbers and increase empty office space. Who will step in?The financial sector has accounted for most of the office sector's take-up in recent...

Alarm bells ring for lenders.
May 21, 2007... Commercial property lending could be getting out of hand as banks lower their borrowing criteria in an increasingly competitive market, a recent Bank of England report has warned Earlier this month the Bank of England hiked interest rates to...

No ifs about the effect of bank mergers.
May 21, 2007... In journalism, it is never advisable to publish a double-if story, as in: "if A happens, then B may happen". Resting your case on two big assumptions is a bit of a stretch for any reader. Remember Y2K? In the late 1990s, we were told that if...

DIC Asset.
May 21, 2007... The German property company is a strong player in its home market and has recently strengthened its asset management business. But the company won't become a G-REIT When Germany got its own real estate investment trust, the media looked at DIC...

Key data: German open-ended funds.
May 21, 2007... - Net inflows continue in March, but totals are down on February and January - Deka's three funds hardest hit - Germany's open-ended funds continued to experience net inflows, although at a slowing rate. In March, the sector collected 300.2m...

Carlyle drops Freeport takeover bid.
May 21, 2007... Carlyle has withdrawn its offer for factory outlet operator Freeport after a lengthy pursuit. Carlyle's first bid for the troubled company was rebuffed, but a slightly higher second bid was accepted. In March, Carlyle said that it would make an...

Knight Frank gains Irish agent.
May 21, 2007... Property consultant Knight Frank has bought Irish estate agent Ganly Walters for an undisclosed sum. Dublin-based Ganly Walters provides commercial and residential property services. It has more than 40 staff and was established in 1847. It...

Nomura seeks buyers for central London headquarters.
May 21, 2007... Japanese finance house Nomura is to sell its London headquarters for [pounds sterling]234m (342m). Nomura is seeking a sale and leaseback deal on its 25,500m2 central London office, located near St Paul's Cathedral, and is believed to prefer a...

Ixis AEW puts DIY retail facilities on market for [euro]160m.
May 21, 2007... Ixis AEW Europe is selling eight retail properties in Greece for 160m.Henderson and Rockspring are expected to buy the buildings, which are home to DIY chain Praktiker. The deal could be Greece's biggest since HSBC bought the Mall of Athens...

Hannover sets benchmark yield with Palladium deal.
May 21, 2007... Purchase of Prague mixed-use development sets record for Central Europe The largest-ever single asset transaction in Central Europe has set a new benchmark yield for prime real estate in the region. German closed-end fund manager Hannover...

AIG Global Real Estate.
May 21, 2007... The property investment arm of the global US-based insurer has bought into an eclectic array of property, and follows deals, not strategies Anyone following the recent acquisitions of AIG could be forgiven for finding it difficult to find a...

In brief.
May 21, 2007... Hypo funds InvescoHypo Real Estate Bank International has provided 280m in finance to Invesco's European Hotel Real Estate Fund. The money will be used to buy mid-market hotels in Europe. The fund recently made its first purchase: the 32m...

Degi fund makes [euro]73m Italian debut.
May 21, 2007... Degi's Global Business Fund has struck its first Italian deal with the 73m purchase of a shopping centre.The fund bought the 12,000m2 Due Colonne centre in Brindisi, southern Italy, from the Alisette joint venture between Italian developers...