Mount Kellett, Pamera Cornerstone co-invest in Frankfurt
Mount Kellett Capital Management, the New York-based private equity group, has bought the Astropark office complex in Frankfurt in a co-investment with asset manager Pamera Cornerstone for an undisclosed price.
The prominent Astropark in Frankfurt’s Niederrad neighbourhood – an ‘office city’ popular in the 80’s and 90’s and now undergoing somewhat of a transformation with the conversion of several office properties into residential space – represents Mount Kellett’s first direct investment into a value-add project in Germany. The previous owner was Goldman Sachs’ real estate unit Whitehall funds.
Built in 1992, the complex encompasses 39,200 sqm of gross lettable area, 80% of which is occupied. Pamera Cornerstone will also take over the asset management of the property. German property financier pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank financed the deal.
“The purchase of the Astropark, which is located in an increasingly desirable Frankfurt location, is a very interesting investment opportunity for Mount Kellett,” said the firm’s Head of Europe Nick Weber. Added Pamera’s Holger Hosang: “The Astropark has significant development potential. It is probably one of the most versatile and efficient multi-tenant properties in Niederrad.”
New York-based Mount Kellett, founded in 2008 by former Goldman Sachs executives Mark McGoldrick and Jason Maynard, manages around $7bn with a focus on global distressed, special situations and opportunistic investing. The Hartford, Connecticut-based Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, a unit of the US-based Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance group, acquired Pamera last year in its strategy to expand its real estate platform throughout Europe. Cornerstone’s parent company manages €42bn of real estate, and transacted €5bn of deals in 2014.
Since then it’s been non-stop for the combined group, which last year handled 15 transactions totalling €332m, up from €310m in 2013. Of these, €232m were acquisitions. In addition to Cornerstone’s American investors, Pamera clients also include private equity groups and the Stuttgart Spezialfonds SIS. In addition Pamera signed 127 new or extended lease contracts for more than 120,000 sqm of residential and commercial space, and now has assets under management of about €1.1bn. The goal for this year is to introduce more Asian investors to the German market, and to set up managed funds for institutional investors.