Ares tops 4,000 units in Germany, buys in Frankfurt with Forte

The US listed alternative asset manager Ares Management L.P. further strengthened its presence in German real estate when one of its funds bought a 300-unit, 24,000 sqm residential and retail complex in Frankfurt am Main.

Ares partnered with Forte Capital, with whom it has worked in the past, and which owns more than 2,200 residential and commercial properties and manages more than 7,000 from six offices across Germany on behalf of institutional and high net worth individuals.

The latest deal for Ares (its fifth in Germany) brings Ares' portfolio to more than 4,1000 units across about 260,000 sqm. According to John Ruane, partner at Ares, “This property strengthens Ares’ residential portfolio in Germany, which we have been amassing and repositioning for the past several years to include attractive multifamily assets in metropolitan and suburban areas across the country. Ares continues to believe that the market fundamentals in Germany are strong for multifamily property, particularly in areas near major city centers.”

At the end of this year's first quarter, the Los Angeles-headquarterd Ares bought a portfolio of 1,300 residential units across northern Germany, mainly around Hamburg and Bremen, as well as in resort destingation along the North Sea and the Baltic Sea coasts.

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. The Frankfurt-based Forte is privately held by its principals Roland Schmidt and Johannes Summer.