FRANKFURT, 10 JANUARY 2007 – GE Real Estate Germany has acquired 100% of a German specialty property fund (“Immobilienspezialfonds”) managed by iii-investments for €420 million. The Fund’s portfolio comprises 12 office properties across western Germany, located in its major financial centres, including Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Bonn, and Karlsruhe.
The properties provide a total of 1.6 million sq ft (150,000 sq m) of office space, with a strong investment-grade tenant base and long-term leases.
This is GE Real Estate’s first investment in a regulated fund product in Germany. The transaction offers GE access to an attractive office portfolio and will provide a base vehicle for future investments.
Rainer Thaler, Managing Director of GE Real Estate Germany, commented: “This acquisition, which is the first sizeable commercial real estate transaction that we are making in Germany, underlines our strategy for growth. In doing so, we have continued to grow our German portfolio, following a successful run of acquisitions throughout 2006, in the residential, healthcare and commercial sectors.
“We are also pleased to have made our first investment in the regulated funds market, where we see exciting growth prospects. As we continue to build our track record, we look forward to expanding our portfolio across the key strategic markets and exploring new sectors.”
Reinhard Mattern, managing director with iii-investments: "Despite the launch of G-REITs the aquisition of GE Real Estate demonstrates the continuous attractiveness of special-purpose property funds for institutional investors."
GE Real Estate was advised by Colliers Property Partners on commercial matters, whilst Freshfields and Pöllath and Partners acted as legal advisors.
Contact:ABFD IN GERMANY: Stephanie Highett/Dido Laurimore/ Nicole Marino +44 20 7831 3113,
Stephanie.highett@fd.com, dido.laurimore@fd.com, nicole.marino@fd.com
About GE Real Estate
GE Real Estate (
www.gerealestate.com) is one of the world's premier commercial real estate companies with USD49 billion in assets and a presence in 24 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. Backed by GE's AAA rating, GE Real Estate offers a comprehensive range of capital and investment solutions including equity capital for acquisition or development, as well as fixed and floating rate mortgages for new acquisitions or re-capitalizations of commercial real estate. With a 26% compound annual growth rate since 1993, GE Real Estate is one of the world's fastest growing and most profitable real estate enterprises. This extraordinary record of success grows out of a reputation for collaboration and partnership; a depth of knowledge and experience and a history of building relationships, finding opportunities and opening doors for more than 5,000 owners, builders, borrowers and brokers worldwide.
GE Commercial Finance (
www.gecommercialfinance.com) offers businesses around the globe an extensive array of financial products and services. With over US$215 billion in assets and expertise in the middle-market, GE Commercial Finance provides loans, operating leases, financing programs and innovative structured capital to help customers grow. Headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, GE Commercial Finance is a wholly owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with operations worldwide.
About iii-investments
iii-investments is HypoVereinsbank´s property fund company. Besides two open-ended property funds for private investors seven special-purpose property funds are managed for institutional investors. In this specific market iii-investments occupies second place in Germany with assets under management of around EUR 2.8 billion.
