France’s Ardian adds Berlin office asset to German portfolio

French private equity group Ardian has bought an office in the centre of Berlin for its Real Estate Europe Fund from a fund managed by JP Morgan Asset Management.

The TeleCity office complex at Lützowstrasse 105/106, near Potsdamer Platz, represents the second investment by the Ardian Real Estate Europe Fund (AREEF) in Berlin and its fourth in Germany. Ardian did not disclose the sales price, but it is known that AREEF has assets of more than €700m under management.

'The high demand for office space in central Berlin, combined with limited availability, enables significant rental and value growth potential for modern and attractive projects such as the office complex at Lützowstrasse,' said Bernd Haggenmüller, managing director of Ardian Real Estate.

'We are particularly pleased that this transaction represents the first co-investment in Germany with an investor from our real estate fund,' Haggenmüller added.

Built in 1974, the complex was last renovated in 2000. Ardian said it would execute another modernisation programme, targeting completion by the end of 2019.

Comprising around 30,000 m2 of rental space, it consists of a main building with six floors, an eleven-story tower and a car park with more than 200 parking spaces. At present, 87% of the building is rented out to more than ten companies. The long-term main tenant is the internet provider I/P/B. A significant portion of the rental area is up for renewal or reletting in the coming years.

On this latest deal, Ardian was advised by Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE Preuss Valteq, Herbert Smith Freehills, and Taxess. Hengeler Müller, Maucher Consult and BFIN advised the seller. BNP Paribas is financing the transaction.

Other investments made so far by Ardian Real Estate include an office building at Spichernstrasse in Berlin, the Konrad office complex and the Heinemann Bogen office complex (both located in Munich), four office buildings in Paris and an Italian portfolio with office properties in Milan and Rome. AREEF focuses on transactions between €50m and €150m.

Ardian Group was founded in 1996 as the private equity arm of insurer Axa. This year it reached $82bn under management across diverse investment asset types, making it one of the world's largest private managers, investing in Europe, the Americas and Asia. The company is majority-owned by employees, and is headed up by Dominique Senequier who was asked in 1996 by then-Axa Chairman Claude Bébéar to form the company, first called Axa Private Equity.

In Europe Ardian now has over 550 employees working from 15 offices. Across all asset types, it manages funds on behalf of around 750 clients across five pillars: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.