AEW and Kintyre team up for €150m German retail expansion

AEW Europe is taking an unnamed US investor into Germany’s retail property sector in a €300m opportunistic drive. The investment manager said it was working with its local partner and retail specialist Kintyre Investments to source and structure investments throughout Germany.

The strategy will initially look to build a €150m portfolio, buying assets in lot sizes worth €5m-15m. Contracts have already been signed for the first acquisition, with eight further assets already under offer. However, investment capacity for the partnership is expected to double to around €300m, depending on opportunity.

Russell Jewell, head of private equity funds at AEW Europe, said the sector represented “good value at present”, with “potential upside through asset management and a demonstrable pipeline of deals”.

Kintyre Investments, said it plans to stay away from the major cities for the partnership’s future investments. Paul Shiels, co-founder of Kintyre, said “We see considerable value at the moment in smaller transactions, located away from the large German cities. Retailers continue to trade strongly in these areas and this creates attractive asset management opportunities.”

AEW Europe at end-2014 had €17.3bn of assets under management, with over €1bn of value-add opportunistic investments since 2010. The Frankfurt-based Kintyre Investments, established in 2009, is an independent privately owned firm working in Germany, with currently €250m of AUM.