Euro Property articles from November 2005

Euro Property archives from November 2005

Commerzbank set to seize [euro]1bn state property portfolio.
November 1, 2005... German state of Hessen selects Commerzbank unit as preferred bidder after auction pushes price above [euro]1bn CommerzLeasing und Immobilien, a unit of Germany's Commerzbank, has won the auction for a [euro]1bn-plus portfolio being sold by the...

Keops acquires 11 Fabege offices.
November 1, 2005... Fabege has sold a portfolio of 11 office buildings outside Stockholm to Danish firm Keops EjendomsHolding for SKr2.9bn ([euro]305m), reflecting a yield of around 7%. The deal gave Fabege a SKr500m profit. The portfolio covers 155,000m[sup.2],...

LaSalle and Merrill Lynch join quest for German retail.
November 1, 2005... US investors form joint ventures to buy German retail Foreign investors have continued to target German retail, with new ventures announced by LaSalle Investment Management (LIM) and Merrill Lynch. LIM has formed the LaSalle German Retail...

In brief.
November 1, 2005... KanAm victory at LeStadium German fund manager KanAm has bought the LeStadium office building in Paris for [euro]106m, at a 6.25% yield. The 19,808m[sup.2] property was bought from Generale Continentale Investisements/Whitehall for its...

Degi offloads two assets from failed portfolio disposal.
November 1, 2005... German fund manager Degi has sold two assets from a [euro]350m portfolio it failed to offload twice earlier this year. The 8,600m[sup.2] Alster-Arkaden in Hamburg and the 27,300m[sup.2] Gro[sz]markt in Cologne were sold to US investor...

Investors inject [euro]214m into PREF fund.
November 1, 2005... British Land's European retail warehouse fund has raised [euro]214m of new equity. The three new investors are the British Airways Pension Fund and Danish pension funds Kommunernes Pensionsforsikring A/S and PFA Pension Forsikring-sakieselskab....

JP Morgan finds pensions underweight in property.
November 1, 2005... European pension funds need to double their property investments to reach an optimum allocation to the asset class, a JP Morgan Asset Management report claims. Nick Tyrrell, head of research and strategy in the company's European real estate...

Apollo picks partner for airport property venture.
November 1, 2005... Apollo European Real Estate Fund II has formed a joint venture with Lyon-based property company Longbow to acquire an airport-related office and industrial portfolio. Six of the eight industrial/office properties are at Satolas Green Business...

New French REIT opens up property to small investors.
November 1, 2005... Tax-exempt vehicles to be launched next year will give investors property exposure A new type of non-listed REIT is set to be launched in France next year. Organismes de Placement Collectif Immobilier vehicles (OPCIs), will allow individuals to...

Political compromise threatens G-REITs.
November 1, 2005... Prospects for the launch of a German Real Estate Investment Trust (G-REIT) have weakened as an increasing number of Social Democrat (SPD) politicians have spoken out against such a vehicle. "I am against REITs," SPD finance spokesperson...

Metrovacesa poised to sell [euro]3.5bn of Gecina property.
November 1, 2005... French SIIC's underperforming assets will be sold under a five-year disposals plan Quoted Spanish investor and developer Metrovacesa is to sell [euro]3.5bn of assets belonging to its subsidiary Gecina. The group, which owns 70% of the...

REIT joins forces with Aedes to revamp Milan buildings.
November 1, 2005... Italian listed property company Aedes and UK-based REIT Asset Management have formed a [euro]92m joint venture. Aedes has sold 50% of Turati Immobiliare Srl, a [euro]92m portfolio of four connected buildings in the centre of Milan. The joint...

Mallen quits Henderson after less than a year.
November 1, 2005... Steve Mallen, Henderson Global Investors' head of property research, has resigned after less than a year in the job. Mallen, formerly Knight Frank's head of research, joined Henderson at the start of this year. Henderson said Mallen had...

First spezialfonds joins new Morgan Stanley vehicles.
November 1, 2005... Morgan Stanley Real Estate, GmbH, the German KAG run by Morgan Stanley, is launching [euro]3bn of property funds. The vehicles include its first property spezialfonds, EurAsia, a core fund which will invest in office, logistics and retail...

Teesland makes [euro]60m move to Denmark's 'Big House'.
November 1, 2005... Teesland iOG has acquired Denmark's largest office building, known as "Big House", from Danske Bank for [euro]60m. The scheme, which will be used to seed a new Nordic fund, is Teesland iOG's second acquisition for Scarborough Continental...

L&R vies with Dutch bidders for [euro]1.3bn Netherlands deal.
November 1, 2005... UK private investor makes shortlist of bidders for portfolio of 73 high-street shops UK private investor London & Regional is the only foreign investor among four bidders shortlisted for the [euro]1.3bn Vendex KBB property portfolio in the...

Pirelli unveils [euro]8bn growth target for managed assets.
November 1, 2005... The Italian company will focus on non-performing loans and franchise expansion Pirelli Real Estate (PRE) plans to increase its assets under management to [euro]18bn from [euro]10bn by 2008. The listed Italian property company said it was...

Widows forms European equities fund.
November 1, 2005... Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has set up an open-ended European property securities fund for UK investors. The fund will invest in companies that own, manage or develop European property and has raised [pounds sterling]10m of...

Barcelona office shortage results in out-of-town exodus.
November 1, 2005... A dwindling supply of new offices in central Barcelona is encouraging occupiers to move to out-of-town or fringe areas, a report from Savills claims. A lack of central business district sites is forcing developers to follow suit, with...

CBRE lands record contract from HSBC.
November 1, 2005... CB Richard Ellis has won one of the biggest ever property management contracts, having signed a deal with International bank HSBC believed to be worth [pounds sterling]25m-[pounds sterling]30m a year in fees. The deal, which will see HSBC hand...

KanAm joins up with ING for Rotterdam office buy.
November 1, 2005... KanAm and Dutch ING Real Estate have jointly bought the Delftse Poort office building in Rotterdam. The German and Dutch fund managers paid [euro]81m for the 151 metre-high building, which is the headquarters of ING's insurance unit Nationale...

Wadman to head CWHB in Sweden.
November 1, 2005... Svante Wadman has joined Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker (CWHB) as partner and head of the firm's Swedish office. Wadman was previously a consultant to US investors on the Nordic and Central and eastern European markets, and GE Capital Real...

Mobbs' death at 68 is end of an era.
November 1, 2005... Slough Estates' former chairman Sir Nigel Mobbs has died. The 68-year-old stepped down from his post in August after 45 years with the company, having suffered from a stroke. Interim chairman Paul Orchard-Lisle said: "After 45 years with the...

Spain is next IVG target after Paris and Munich expansion.
November 1, 2005... Asset swap with Rodamco builds the company's French and German office assets, while Spanish arm plans to invest up to [euro]500m on development in the next year October was a busy month for IVG - as well as setting up a Spanish operation and...

Macquarie and Lehman raise $3.7bn private equity funds.
November 1, 2005... Macquarie funds target Europe and Far East while Lehman's fund will invest globally Macquarie Global Property Advisors (MGPA) and Lehman Brothers have each raised giant global property private equity funds, netting a total of $3.7bn of equity....

HSBC and SocGen team up for securitisations.
November 1, 2005... HSBC and Societe Generale have teamed up to structure UK and French commercial mortgage-backed securitisation (CMBS) issues. The partners will securitise two separate loans of [pounds sterling]274m to LCP Real Estate and [pounds sterling]48m to...

Dawnay Day Carpathian picks Poland for debut.
November 1, 2005... Recently floated central and eastern Europe investment company Dawnay Day Carpathian has made its first acquisitions, buying four Polish shopping centres. The UK-listed company bought the Tulipan Centre in Lodz, Osowa in Gdansk, Kometa in Torun...

Investors looking at Russia prepare to make the leap.
November 1, 2005... Russia's market is now more stable and legally defined, tempting a broad range of investors Will Russia be property investors' favourite country next year? At a recent event, Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker presented a list of 39 names of...

Where have all the property deals gone?
November 1, 2005... The German state of Hessen seems to have done very well out of its first venture into property outsourcing, raising more than [euro]1bn, 25% above what it expected. Cue other states following suit with some rapidity. Of course it's not really a...

People.
November 1, 2005... Forrest builds Fortriz Hugh Forrest, formerly the asset manager at Aareal Asset Management responsible for the Iberian Peninsular, has left the company to establish Fortriz Inversiones y Management. The company will provide property consultancy...

Europe must take listed route to market growth.
November 1, 2005... Real Estate Investment Trusts may help Europe build listed property sectors to match those of the US and Australia Looking at the invested global property market, Europe accounts for the largest regional share, at around 38% of the total,...

Bear Stearns.
November 1, 2005... The US bank, which completed its first European securitisation deal last year, has recruited a team from Nomura to head a new European property finance arm targeting [euro]100m-plus deals US investment bank Bear Stearns wants to provide a...

Lehman Brothers.
November 1, 2005... The US bank's European real estate private equity group is looking to spend up to 40% of its latest, [euro]2.4bn fund in Europe, and will enlist local partners to make the most from its money It's a good time to be raising equity for property...

Retail.
November 1, 2005... Consumer confidence may be wavering in some parts of Europe but investors are still convinced that the retail sector offers the best returns - as long as the pricing is right Retail property seems to have been every investor's flavour of the...

Ireland's retail mania leads to crazy high-street deals.
November 1, 2005... Capital growth and a strong economy mean private retail buyers will accept sub-3% yields An Irish private investor recently sent a shockwave through the market when he bought a retail building in Dublin's Dawson Street at a yield after cost of...

Netherlands resists the lure of the out-of-town giants.
November 1, 2005... Opponents have defeated an attempt to create the Netherlands' first large out-of-town mall Is the Netherlands too small for a big retail and leisure scheme? Dutch developer Bouwfonds MAB doesn't think so, even after its plans to create a...

Developers give Italy a touch of retail therapy.
November 1, 2005... Foreign developers are lining up to to rectify Italy's lack of modern, urban mixed-use centres Italy is the destination of choice for fashion-conscious consumers in search of retail therapy, who flock to the Piazza di Spagna in Rome or Via...

Shopping centre wave flows from west to the east.
November 1, 2005... Plenty of retail developments are still coming out of the ground in mature western markets, but it is the emerging eastern European countries that show potential for a real boom Despite planning restrictions and worries over consumer spending,...

Key data: Occupiers.
November 1, 2005... ■ Logistics investors are hampered by shortage of stock ■ Office take-up in Dublin remained strong in third quarter Warehouses promise best returns in next three years Occupier demand for warehouse space is slowly recovering while...

Key data: INREV.
November 1, 2005... ■ Core and value-added funds have grown most rapidly ■ Most funds are sector diversified but focus on one country EPRA's proposed tax framework for EU REITs ■ An EU REIT should be exempt from corporate income tax in the...

Key data: Non-listed sector.
November 1, 2005... ■ Aberdeen, Degi, Invesco and Henderson all launched funds in September ■ ECB keeps interest rates on hold ■The European Central Bank left interest rates on hold in October, despite upward pressure on prices from increasing...

Key data: German open-ended funds.
November 1, 2005... ■ Deka funds report big losses but are still supported by parent company ■BB-Invest launches first fund of funds ■ After BVI published its August figures, CGI corrected its own figures for the month. The fund manager initially...

Key data: The listed sector.
November 1, 2005... ■ Europe index continued to perform strongly with 4.2% rise in September ■ K Development's shares shot up 31% ■ The EPRA/NAREIT Europe Index rose 4.2% in September, and was up 23% in the year to September. The Swedish listed...

Euro investment leaps 39% as buyers ignore borders.
November 1, 2005... Paris property tops buyers' wish lists as cross-border investment grows to [euro]54bn in 2004 Cross-border capital flows into European commercial property were exceptionally strong in 2004, with a total of [euro]54bn of deals - a 39% increase...

Study dispels sector's myths.
November 1, 2005... Performance comparisons for German spezialfonds are hard to come by, but a new study disproves the theory that investors get the best returns from larger, highly geared funds Germany's property spezialfonds have produced strong growth in the...

Inmobiliaria Colonial.
November 1, 2005... Last year's purchase of Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise gave the Spanish firm a French presence and it is expanding its city-centre office assets at home Inmobiliaria Colonial has grown at a considerable rate. The company's portfolio has increased...

Orco Property Group.
November 1, 2005... The central and eastern European investment and development specialist is moving into Croatia next, having purchased a local property company with diverse assets and land Jean-Francois Ott is a big believer in the European Union. In fact, the...

Gecina.
November 1, 2005... Metrovacesa recently signalled a change in strategy for its French subsidiary, which will sell low-yielding assets, branch out into logistics and hotels, but maintain its focus on offices It's all change at French listed property company...

Consumers tighten belts but investors keep on spending.
November 1, 2005... A consumer spending slowdown has not stopped cash-rich investors from targeting retail Retail property has been the investor's top choice in Europe for the past three or four years and demand is still pushing yields down. However, consumer...