Ares and Forte buy 1,300-home portfolio in northern Germany

US-headquartered alternative asset manager Ares Management LP has bought a portfolio of 1,300 residential units across northern Germany through a fund managed by its real estate group for an undisclosed sum.

The properties are located throughout metropolitan areas in Northern Germany such as Hamburg and Bremen, as well as in resort destinations along the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts, comprising more than 65,000 sqm in total. The deal is the fourth acquisition for Ares’ residential real estate portfolio in Germany, which now consists of more than 3,900 units totaling more than 230,000 sqm across west and north-west Germany.

"This is a strong addition to our investment strategy in the German residential market,' commented John Ruane, partner in the Ares Real Estate Group. 'We continue to see both strong letting and investment fundamentals in the German market in city centres, surrounding metropolitan areas, as well as holiday regions."

The Los Angeles-headquartered Ares plans to continue its close cooperation with Forte, a Frankfurt-based real estate asset manager that Ares partnered with to acquire and manage its previous German residential investments, "in order to add value, reduce vacancy, and reposition the expanded portfolio." Forte has six offices across Germany from which it manages its own 7,000-unit residential portfolio.

The publicly-listed Ares had about $99bn (€94 bn) of assets under management as of December 31, 2016, and more than 15 offices in the US, Europe and Asia.