Asterion and Velero Partners close first two German resi deals
It's been a busy couple of months for Berlin-based Velero Partners, which was established last year by a trio of residential real estate specialists. In two separate transactions in March and April, the company closed on a portfoio of 455 units in Bad Dürrenberg in eastern Germany, and followed that up with a porfolio of 1,000 apartment units in North Rhine Westphalia.
The second deal is still a bit under wraps, with neither price nor seller identity given yet, but Velero said that it bought the 64,700 sqm portfolio with a 6.8% vacancy rate from a housing association, and that it generates a 'cold' rentroll of €3.5m annually.
Velero is acting as the exclusive asset manager for partner firm Asterion Wohnen, a Luxembourg-registered company with Anglo-Saxon backers. Velero said further deals were in the imminent pipeline, en route to an initial holding stock of 4,000 to 5,000 units.
Velero raised its first equity tranche of €50m from institutional investors for the new platform Asterion Wohnen in March, and co-founder Sascha Giest says that more capital can be raised as required, with a view to an initial €200m of total investment.
The investors are targeting portfolios of from 100 units in size up to 1000 units, particularly in smaller towns and communities of 10,000 inhabitants upwards, but not in the Big 7 cities. Assets will be held for the longer term, not just for short-term capital gain, says Giest, although in isolated cases it may make sense to offer some stock for privatisation.
Giest was formerly co-CEO of listed residential group Westgrund, which was taken over last year by Adler Real Estate. During his time at Westgrund, the firm’s portfolio rose to 20,000 from 5,000 flats and entered the SDAX German small-cap stock exchange index.
Thomas Lange was a colleague of Giest's at Westgrund, as head of transactions, and at Velero he is handling acquisitions and asset management. Frank Wildhirt, who will handle privatisations, did a similar job on behalf of numerous clients over the last ten years, and has sold more than 7,500 apartments in that time.