Catalyst Capital buys NRW shopping centre in third German deal

London-based private equity real estate firm Catalyst Capital has concluded its third and biggest deal to date on behalf of a partnership it maintains with an overseas family office. The company has just bought the Erft Karree Kerpen retail park, near Cologne, from Aachen-based vendor Nesseler Grünzig Group, for the partnership. The price paid was about €55m in the form of a sahre deal.

The transaction follows the acquisition of Stadt Tor, an office asset in Neu-Isenburg outside of Frankfurt, for €20 million in September 2013 and Eschersheimer Landstrasse 50, an office building in Frankfurt city itself, for €16 million two months ago.

The 55,000 sqm retail park is let to 31 separate tenants including home improvement specialist OBI, office supplier Staples, sports retailer Intersport and consumer electronics retailer Saturn among others. The centre generates an annual rent roll of about €4m, while the weighted average unexpired lease term is 8.5 years.

Kean Hird, the Catalyst partner responsible for the German and Polish regions, said: “This is a classic Catalyst Capital acquisition. We are buying a well-located and well-let investment, which offers the opportunity for us to apply our asset management skills to add value through driving rental uplifts, repositioning some units and developing new units on vacant plots”.

Catalyst was established in 1996 since when it had invested more than €5.1 billion in real estate assets. The company is now raising its second investment fund, CEPF II. although it transacts also via separate accounts and partnerships. Its first European Property Fund closed in 2008 and is a €228.5m opportunistic fund holding assets in the UK, France, Germany and Poland.