Valad Europe buys six German office properties at 8.76%

UK-based property investment manager Valad Europe has bought a portfolio of six office buildings in Germany for its Valad European Diversified Fund (VEDF) from an international family office, advised by Frankfurt's WhiteWater Real Estate Advisors. The initial yield on the portfolio is 8.76%, reflecting its value-add potential.

The portfolio comprises 35,860 sqm of office space, with four assets located in Nuremberg, one asset in Cologne and one in Hamburg. The portfolio is let to 44 tenants including Nash Technologies, Hochtief, Alstom Power Service, Dussmann Service, Buergel Business Information, Johann Michael Sailer Verlag, L&P Automotive and the state employment agency Bundesagentur für Arbeit.

According to Danilo Hunker, Valad Europe's Head of Asset Management in Germany, "This is our sixth acquisition for VEDF in Germany this year, where we have around €130 million so far invested or committed. This latest portfolio of assets is in strong locations, in major German cities, with value-add potential through asset management initiatives such as void reduction and extending existing leases. We believe the German office sector continues to offer good value due to the strengthening occupier market and current low level of development activity.“

In Germany, Valad Europe's 35-strong team manages €740m of assets with 600 tenants and 1m sqm of space, and maintains offices in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich. It manages around €5.3bn in real estate across Europe with a further about €1bn of development projects currently on its books. The total of 400 managed assets has around 4.2m sqm of space and 3,700 tenants.