Schroder REIT invests €60m in mixed German assets

Listed UK fund manager Schroder European Real Estate Investment Trust PLC (SEREIT) made a number of acquisitions in April, bringing to five the number of deals it has closed since its launch in December 2015.

Firstly it completed the purchase of two office investments located in Stuttgart and Hamburg at a total price of €28.9m, reflecting a blended net initial yield of 6.0%. The assets are fully let, with an average unexpired lease term of over 8 years.

It then signed contracts for the purchase for €11.05m of a 4,500 sqm convenience retail property located in Rödelheim, a growing inner urban neighbourhoud of Frankfurt am Main, at an intitial yield of 5.6%. The asset is a Lidl-anchored, multi-let convenience retail centre.

The asset was built in 2004 and modernised in 2015 and comprises 4,525 sqm of lettable area. The 1,600 sqm Lidl supermarket has an initial lease term of more than 10 years. The combined weighted average unexpired lease term of all leases is about 8 years.

According to non-exeutive chairman Julian Berney, "Acquiring good retail assets in prime German cities is challenging and competitive, hence being able to secure this long let investment within a growing urban area of Germany's financial capital is a credit to our local sourcing capabilities."

SEREIT has now invested over €60m in four deals this year, including a 17,000 sqm asset in Berlin-Marienfelde, which is leased to DIY store Hornbach.

The REIT is listed in London and Johannesburg and backed by British and South African capital. Its strategy is to invest in core and core-plus assets in continental Europe, and is targeting €240m of acquisitions.