Investcorp powers ahead with more German office buys

Investcorp, the Bahrain-based manager of alternative investment products, has bought the Airport Centre, a multi-let office and light industrial property located in Hamburg, for a price of about €85 million. 

The acquisition is Investcorp’s fourth real estate investment in Germany in the last 12 months and brings Investcorp’s total European real estate assets under management (AUM) to over €500 million.

Airport Centre is located a short distance away from Hamburg airport on the Fuhlsbüttel Nord U-Bahn station. The property has 35,000 sqm of lettable space, of which 75% is office space and 25% light industrial. It currently houses thirty-two tenants across a diverse set of sectors and has had a stron letting history since its construction. 

The purchase of Airport Centre closely follows the acquisitions of office buildings located in Stuttgart, Eschborn and Niederrad, bringing Investcorp’s total AUM in Germany to about €325m. This, combined with the acquisition of 27 logistic and light industrial assets in the UK over the past two years, brings Investcorp’s total AUM in Europe to over €500m.

Rishi Kapoor, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Investcorp, said of the deal, “We see great opportunities in specific sub-sectors of the European real estate market and have ambitious plans for the years ahead.”

Neil Hasson, Investcorp’s Head of European Real Estate, added, “We believe that the German office market has good fundamentals and we expect that our portfolios will exhibit a good return profile for our investors. We are primarily focused on sourcing income generating multi-let assets within the UK, German, French, Dutch and Benelux markets with a preference for office and industrial assets.”

Montano Asset Management acted as a minority joint venture partner on the deal, and will act as Airport Centre’s asset manager.

In May, a month ago, Investcorp agreed to buy Mercury Capital Advisors, which specializes in capital raising and investment advisory. Mercury is expected to remain an independent business with its own established management team.

Mercury was founded in 2009 by the ex-Merrill Lynch management team under Michael Ricciardi, Alan Pardee and Enrique Cuan, which have closed over $170bn in fund commitments since 2003. The company now has 50 employees in 14 offices across the world.

The Mercury takeover was the latest milestone in Investcorp’s stated strategy to reach $50 billion in assets under management over the medium term and follows Investcorp’s acquisition last year of a strategic minority stake in Banque Paris Bertrand, an independent, Swiss-regulated private bank based in Geneva and Luxembourg.