ÄVWL in €250m forward purchase of Olympus HQ in Hamburg

The Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe (ÄVWL), one of Germany's largest medical occupational pension funds, has partnered with US private investor Hines to buy the Hamburg site where Japanese optical technology manufacturer Olympus will have its European headquarters. The price was thought to be around €250m.

ÄVWL, a €13.5bn funded German first pillar pension scheme for doctors in the region of Westfalen, is the main investor. Real estate investment firm Hines will take over the long-term asset management of the property. ÄVWL owns and manages around €2.6bn of real estate investments in its portfolio.

The seller of the building project is Campus Properties 1 GmbH & Co., a joint venture from Germany's largest project developer Zech Group, and Olympus, which remains responsible for the completion of the building. The building is scheduled for completion by the end of 2020.

Christian Mosel, CEO of ÄVWL, commented, “In the Olympus Campus, we have acquired an object in a central location in Hamburg, which thanks to the high occupancy rate promises a stable long-term cash flow basis and thus high earnings security.”

Markus Altenhoff, managing director, chief investment officer at ÄVWL, added: “The prestigious, timeless architecture and high space efficiency offer good conditions for a sustainable real estate investment.”

Hines was advised on the acquisition by Pöllath+Partners, while the seller was advised by PwC Düsseldorf. Support in the transaction process was also provided by CBRE Hamburg.

The Olympus Campus covers around 47,000sqm of office leasable space and 505 parking spaces on up to eleven storeys. Around 38,000sqm of office space has been leased long-term by Olympus. The Japanese firm plans to operate its new headquarters for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region from the site, while a further 9,000sqm have been leased long-term to coworking provider Design Offices.