Taurus sells Hahn DIY retail chain for €190m

The Bergish-Gladbach headquartered retail property investment and asset manager Hahn Gruppe has bought a portfolio of seven Hornbach DIY stores in Germany (with one in Sweden) from the Taurus Group for its institutional HAHN VZWL Retail Fund. The acquisition was a share deal valued at €190mn.

The properties are located in Berlin, Munich, Essen, Kiel, Binzen, Remseck, and Malmö (Sweden), with the Berlin complex also serving as a regional training center for Hornbach employees and one of four online retailing centers in Germany. The individual markets have lettable space between 13,000 and 18,000 sqm, while the entire portfolio totals 114,000 sqm. All of the properties are fully leased to Hornbach under long-term contracts.

Hornbach is considered one of the most profitable DIY store operators in Germany, with a growth rate last year of 2.4% in the first nine months, faster than the overall home improvement and garden centre market growth rate of only 1.2%, according to figures from the DIY store trade association BHB (Handelsverband Heimwerken, Bauen und Garten e.V.). Hornbach was also voted by consumers the top chain in 2016 in terms of customer satisfaction.

Taurus Investment, with its global headquarters in Boston, USA, bought the Hornbach assets in 2004 to 2006 in a deal known as Club Deal 101, with the intention of holding for ten years – hence the sale to Hahn. The deal, transacted then for about €200m for eight assets, was the launch pad for a major Taurus buying spree of German retail, with current holdings amounting to about 100 assets valued at more than €600m.

Hahn Gruppe is one of Germany's leading asset and investment managers in the retial sector for large-scale retail stores. Over the last 30 years the company has established over 170 retail funds for German investors. It currently manages more than €2.5bn in funds, holding retail assets in about 150 different locations across Germany and generating rental income of €160m.