Round Hill sells 800-unit Berlin portfolio to Akelius

The UK-based Round Hill Capital took advantage of healthy underlying demand to sell a portfolio of 798 residential units in Berlin to the acquisitive Swedish investor Akelius GmbH for about €86m, in what it described as "a scheduled disposal of assets in line with the fund's investment objectives." The sale represents a multiple of 20.4 times current rent and equates to €1,430 per sqm.

The portfolio comprises 39 assets with about 60,000 sqm of gross lettable area in mainly inner-city locations in Berlin such as Neukölln, Wedding, Tiergrarten, Kreuzberg, Lichtenberg and Charlottenburg. Round Hill's Berlin team said that the assets had been significantly upgraded since they were bought, while the vacancy rate had been reduced and rents increased.

According to Round Hill's CEO and founder Michael Bickford, "The German residential market continues to have strong underlying investment fundamentals. The market continues to be characterised by compelling macroeconomic and real estate fundamentals; limited, good quality and affordable housing supply; and robust demand with favourable financial characteristics, which combined with our residential operating capabilities, provides a first-class platform from which to invest in, manage and sell real estate assets.”

Round Hill has been active in the German market for nearly 10 years, and has raised a number of German residential funds that own more than 10,000 units throughout Germany, as well as in the Netherlands following a recent major acquisition. In commercial property it manages a portfolio of Grade A office buildings in German, Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria