Despite the continuing uncertainty on the financial markets, the real estate investment market in the Netherlands remains healthy. The reference date for the survey was 1 December 2007. Gepubliceerd in PropertyNLMagazine Nr. 4 - 10 Maart 2008
Despite the continuing uncertainty on the financial markets, the
real estate investment market in the Netherlands remains healthy.
The reference date for the survey was 1 December 2007.
Gepubliceerd in PropertyNLMagazine Nr. 4 - 10 Maart 2008
1 Fordgate acquires Wölbern portfolio
What: Wölbern portfolio
Buyer: Fordgate
For: approximately € 1.2 billion
At number one is the purchase of the Dutch
office portfolio from the closed real estate
funds of the German underwriter Bankhaus
Wölbern. Fordgate Ltd, the real estate
arm of the Israeli family concern Gertner,
easily outbid several other interested parties
– including Kenmore and Rreef – thanks
to the generous financing by Crédit Suisse.
The portfolio contains 72 properties with
a total area of 525,000 m2 and the purchase
price exceeded that of the MPC deal
in 2006 which raised around € 1 billion.
Crédit Suisse was also the financier of the
MPC deal. The bank is reportedly having
problems laying off the loan through CMBS
bonds because of the credit crisis.
2 BPF Bouwinvest’s residential
portfolio sold
What: BPF Bouwinvest’s Cohabitat portfolio
Buyer: Dispositie-CV with BPF Bouwinvest
and Urban Interest
For: approximately € 600 million
The sale of this residential portfolio, with
3200 properties the largest ever, was originally
dismissed as a transaction between
BPF Bouwinvest and the Hague investor Urban
Interest. With hindsight, it was slightly
more complicated. The properties were absorbed
into an innovative CV construction
in which both BPF Bouwinvest (the seller)
and Urban Interest participate, with NIBC
as the financier. The advantages of this construction
were that the seller received a good
price for the properties and the need for
tenders was avoided since Urban Interest
is going to manage the properties and and
sell them off individually. Furthermore, as a
participant in the CV BPF Bouwinvest will
share in the future profits from the sales.
3 AZL disposes of offices
What: AZL office portfolio
Buyer: AXA Reim
For: € 290 million
AZL Vastgoed Kantoren, an asset manager
in the south of the Netherlands, sold
its entire office portfolio in May to a consortium
of funds managed and advised by
AXA Reim. The sale was driven by the fact
that the pension funds that own the shares
in AZL Vastgoed Kantoren wanted to move
into larger funds. Other reasons given by
the pension funds for leaving the AZL real
estate fund were that their own funds had
contracted which meant that they had to
reduce the allocation to real estate and/or
reallocate the investment in the real estate
sector to European property.
4 Former real estate of Shell
and Rodamco goes to GPT Halverton
What: offices/industrial property of Bouwfonds
Asset Management/IEF Capital
Buyer: GPT Halverton
For: € 269 million
The sale involved a portfolio of 21 office
buildings and 18 industrial properties
from the former real esate portfolios of
the Shell pension fund and Rodamco Europe.
The total surface area is approximately
230,000 m2. According to the buyer,
the Anglo-Dutch GPT Halverton, the
properties require closer management
attention to further optimise the value. It
has established a special fund, the Dutch
Active Fund Propco, for the properties
which are predominantly located in the
Randstad region.
5 First large sale of real estate by CVs
What: real estate from the B&S CVs
Buyer: Straet Holding
For: € 241 million
For the first time a supplier of real estate CVs
with Dutch investors has succeeded in selling
the properties in a single portfolio. Van Boom
& Slettenhaar was able to convince practically
all the participants that the chance to sell
the real estate in 12 CVs was ‘an offer they
couldn’t refuse’. On average the participants
secured an annual return of 14.1%. The buyer
was Straet Holding, the real estate business
of entrepreneurs Harrie van de Moesdijk and
Tom Moeskops.
6 Irish strike at Zuidas
What: Atrium
Buyer: Quinlan Private
For : approximately € 200 million
The private Irish investment group Quinlan
Private made the largest single-asset transaction
to appear in the portfolio-dominated
top 10, with the purchase of the 32,000 m2
Atrium building at Amsterdam’s Zuidas. The
seller was Tishman Speyer, who bought the
building in 2004 and carried out renovations
in 2005 and 2006. The financier was Halifax
Bank of Scotland (HBOS). The building is fully
let to tenants that include Optiver, Greenberg
Traurig, Jones Lang LaSalle, Cushman &
Wakefield, Yacht Tata and Egon Zehnder.
7 Second purchase by Evans Randall
What: The Rock
Buyer: Evans Randall
For: € 165 million
Michael Evans of British investment bank
Evans Randall made another significant real
estate investment in the Netherlands this
year. The purchase of The Rock, De Brauw
Blackstone Westbroek’s new 31,000 m2 head
office at Amsterdam’s Zuidas, for € 165 million,
once again puts Evans Randall is the
top-ten list. Last year the bank was slightly
higher in sixth place with the purchase of
the Haagse Poort for € 203 million. HBOS
was again hired as financier. The seller was
the development consortium Mahler4. The
purchase of The Rock fits in well with Evans
Randall’s strategy of acquiring real estate at
A1 locations in Europe.
8 White Estate makes its
largest-ever deal
What: office portfolio of Oranje-Nassau Group
Buyer: White Estate and NIBC
For: € 165 million
Having been taken off the stock market, the
Oranje-Nassau Group intends to focus on
its core activities and has therefore disposed
of its real estate. Most of the funds in the
Netherlands have already resigned themselves
to this fact. The purchase is the biggest
in the history of White Estate, a private Dutch
investor. The portfolio consists of offices
and industrial properties in the Netherlands,
Germany and Belgium and encompasses
roughly 67,000 m2. The divestment
of the real estate portfolio is connected with
a change of strategy by Oranje-Nassau,
which now wants to concentrate entirely on
expanding its investments in the upstream
oil and gas sector and private equity.
9 Belgian fund buys from brewer
What: pubs and residential
Buyer: Cofinimmo
For: € 160 million (estimate)
The Belgian real estate fund Cofinimmo
reached agreement with brewer InBev to
buy 90% of the latter’s real estate subsidiary
Immobrew. Immobrew directly owns 824
pubs in Belgium and is indirect owner of
245 pubs in the Netherlands. The portfolio
also includes several residential properties.
The total value of the portfolio is € 465 million
and the deal was struck at a remarkably
low initial yield of 5.8% because of the 27-
year leases with InBev. The properties in the
Netherlands represent around 35% to 40%
of the portfolio so PropertyNL values this
part of the deal at € 160 million.
10 Major hotel transaction by
Moor Park
What: 19 Accor Hotels
Buyer: Moor Park Real Estate
For: € 150 million (estimate)
This is the only hotel transaction to make
it into the top ten. The international investor
Moor Park RE bought 91 Accor hotels
in Germany and the Netherlands (19
hotels) for € 863 million in March of this
year. That figure includes a sum of € 43
million for renovation. The Dutch share
of the deal that counts for the purpose of
this list is estimated at € 150 million. The
Novotel, Mercure, Ibis and Etap hotels in
the deal have 12,000 rooms in all. The
French hotel group Accor will continue
to manage the hotels for 12 years at rents
averaging 18% of the annual income. The
leases can be extended six times for up to
a maximum of 84 years!
