LONDON | BERLIN – Apeiron Capital (“Apeiron”) and Kauri CAB Management GmbH (“KCM”), the northern European property specialists, in partnership with a leading global Sovereign Wealth Fund (together “the JV”), have today announced the formation of a new €300m joint venture partnership.
With starting equity capital of €100 million in the new joint venture, the intention of the JV is to acquire portfolios and individual property assets across Germany, initially targeting a portfolio size of €300 million (including debt).
The JV is also pleased to announce today, its first acquisition, a portfolio of 1,675 residential and 105 commercial units within 61 residential buildings in Germany for a purchase consideration of €130 million. Located in Berlin and Magdeburg, the buildings have in aggregate approximately 120,000 sqm of lettable space.
The units, mostly of the ‘Altbau’ or period style, are located in the popular districts of Berlin (70% of the portfolio) including the City Center, Reinickendorf, Tempelhof, Steglitz and Lichtenberg as well as in Magdeburg (30% of the portfolio). The seller of the ‘Zeus’ Portfolio is ZBI Zentral Boden Immobilien AG in Erlangen.
This acquisition builds on KCM’s experience in the German residential space and follows its sale of 25 buildings in Berlin announced in July 2014 in partnership with Pramerica Real Estate Investors. Apeiron is a privately held principal investment and asset management firm dedicated to real estate opportunities in the UK, Germany and the Nordic region.
Jacob Cronstedt and Vojkan Brankovic, Principals of Apeiron commented: “The returns on offer from northern European residential property make the asset class increasingly attractive to investors and we are seeing a growing number of excellent investment opportunities particularly across Germany. With the backing of a major global sovereign wealth fund we are well placed to capitalise on these going forward.”
Hagen Kahmann Managing Director of KCM said: “German residential property continues to be an attractive proposition. Our new joint venture between Kauri CAB, Apeiron and our institutional partner brings together a group of investors with a strong track record in this space.
“The acquisition announced today represents an excellent outcome for all three partners in the JV and demonstrates our partnership’s ability to effectively source and close attractive off- market deals. It is an exciting opportunity given the multiple routes for optimisation the portfolio offers. Berlin offers an attractive long-term structural demand-supply imbalance for rental housing and is one of the fastest growing capital cities in Europe.”
KCM and the JV were advised by Berlin based Strategis AG, Beiten Burkhardt and CT Commerzial Trust Group. Unicredit bank provided senior financing to the acquisition.
Apeiron is a privately held principal investment and asset management firm dedicated to real estate opportunities in the UK, Germany and the Nordic region, with offices in London, Berlin and Stockholm. Investments are made through independent, specialised platforms owned by Aperion and its capital partners. Apeiron targets long term capital growth and stable income returns by active management.For further information about Apeiron please see our website: www.apeiron.com