Industry News

Insurance firm Achmea has agreed with ABN Amro to buy its Premium Pension Institution (PPI) for an undisclosed sum. The vehicle will be renamed Centraal Beheer PPI later this year. It first became possible to establish a PPI once the Premium Pension Institution Introduction Bill was passed by the Dutch Senate and signed into law on 1 January 2011. A PPI is set up to administrate individual defined contribution (DC) pension schemes and is part of the second pillar pension...

Round Hill Capital and QuadReal Property Group have expanded their joint venture partnership in Ireland with a EUR200 million additional commitment. The added capital will be used to forward fund the purchase of high-quality multi-family rental assets across Ireland, focusing on apartment blocks in the country’s main cities, including Dublin. The announcement brings the partnership’s total funding commitment to Irish housing to EUR575 million. Said Michael Bickford, founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital: 'We are delighted to continue our...

Catella Asset Management has acquired a build-to-rent project in Valencia from Spain's AQ Acentor for EUR66 million. The Alfambra development comprises two buildings with 281 homes in total, and is situated within the AQ Turianova project in the city of Valencia. It has already been granted a First Occupancy License (LPO). Alfambra is the second development that AQ Acentor has sold to Catella, following the deal closed in Villaverde in Madrid for 171 BTR units in 2019. AQ Acentor will...

Real estate investor Altera Vastgoed has acquired convenience centre De Vlashoeck in Bergschenhoek from Strada Vastgoed. Comprising approximately 4,200 m2 of space, the asset includes a Plus supermarket and a Kruidvat drugstore. The centre accommodates about ten stores and dates back to 2004. De Vlashoeck has an underground parking garage with 160 free parking spaces and is part of the core shopping area in Bergschenhoek. The acquisition follows the earlier acquisitions of the Brouwhorst convenience centre in Helmond and the...

Nordic real estate investor NREP has announced the acquisition of Vällingby Centrum in Stockholm, Sweden from Svenska Bostäder, the City of Stockholm's municipal housing company, for €161 mln. Vällingby Centrum forms the heart and hub of the western part of The City of Stockholm, and was inaugurated in 1954 as Sweden’s first ABC city – “Arbete – Bostad – Centrum”, meaning "Work – Living – City Centre”. The ABC model is a community-based planning programme that was founded in Sweden...

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (‘Aviva’), announces that it has acquired The Vondel Portfolio – a collection of eight office assets in Amsterdam. It is the second purchase by Aviva Investors in Amsterdam’s office market in as many months, following its purchase of the FOZ building, a highly sustainable building located in the heart of Amsterdam’s business district, in March. The Vondel Portfolio sits on the outskirts of ‘Zuidas’ or ‘South Axis’, the central business...

IPUT Real Estate, Ireland’s leading property company and the largest owner of offices and logistics assets in Dublin, announces the acquisition of 118 acres of development land in north Dublin, which will enable it to double the size of its logistics portfolio to c. 5.5 million sq ft. The newly acquired site is strategically located less than 20 minutes’ drive from Dublin airport, off the M2 and close to the M50 orbital motorway, and adjacent to IPUT’s Nexus Distribution Park...

Meag, the asset manager of Germany's Munich Re Group and Ergo, has attracted Spanish insurance firm, Mapfre, for a core European office fund aiming to invest up to EUR500 million by 2023. Mapfre is the seed investor along with Meag, both of whom are contributing assets in the first place, but the fund will be opened to different institutional investors from Germany and Europe in 2024, leading the partners to think it could grow to EUR1 billion by 2025. This...

Global real estate investment manager Barings has sold four grocery retail assets in Barcelona to private equity fund MDSR Investments for an undisclosed sum. With a combined gross leasable area (GLA) of 16,000 m2, the properties are fully let to French supermarket chain Carrefour. The four assets are part of a portfolio of ten supermarkets acquired by Barings in December 2019. As part of its pan-European strategy, Barings’ intention is to divest of the non-core assets in the mid-term, while...