(LONDON) – Hines, the international real estate firm, has been engaged by Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) to execute a €1.3 billion separate account program targeting prime high street retail assets across Europe.
BVK, Germany’s largest pension scheme group with approximately €62 billion assets under management, has awarded Hines the mandate to focus on identifying, acquiring and managing core-plus, value add and re-/development retail assets in prime locations on high streets in major markets across 20 countries in Europe. The majority of investments are intended for a long-term hold.
Hines will be pursuing a range of value-added measures including rental reviews, repositioning and re-leasing of units, store reconfiguration and light refurbishments. In addition, major redevelopments, including conversions and ground up developments will be part of the investment strategy.
Hines has already acquired the first asset at the end of last year, with the purchase of an iconic building on Oslo’s Karl Johans gate, the premier high street and one of the most sought after retail precincts in Norway. The 5,100-square-meter building has been secured as a sale and leaseback from Landkreditt Bank for €52 million.
Over the last two years, Hines has launched a series of separate accounts and one-off transactions with German pension funds, securing over €1.5 billion of equity commitments.
Norman Fackelmann, Department Head of Real Estate Investment Management at BVK, said, “As a business we are committed to growing our exposure to the high-street retail market. It is a sector which offers attractive fundamentals, and there are good opportunities to source value add assets in strategic locations for long-term investing. Hines represents the perfect fit for executing this strategy given the strong track record in asset level value creation across a broad range of markets.”
Lars Huber, senior managing director and co-CEO for Hines Europe, said, “This is a significant mandate for our European business from one of the world’s leading investors in real estate. It enables us to capitalize on our integrated business model and leverage our Pan-European platform to focus on value creation through active asset management, refurbishments and redevelopment. As a business, Hines continues to evolve and diversify, and this instruction from BVK demonstrates our capabilities and strengths in the retail sector. We are delighted to have been awarded such a prestigious and significant mandate, and we look forward to building the portfolio for the client.”
Peter Epping, managing director for Hines Europe and manager of the account, added, “The combination of strong fundamentals for the European prime high-street retail sector, Hines research-based approach to identify the most attractive markets and high streets, as well as being able to source and execute core-plus, value-add and development opportunities with our local teams around Europe are the basis for a successful execution of BVK’s long-term investment strategy.”
Leading the first acquisition for this account in Oslo, James Robson, managing director, Hines Europe, said, “Securing the first asset, particularly outside our established continental platform, is testimony to our market reach and the speed at which we operate. The building in Oslo is typical of the kind we are targeting; a well-located, retail-anchored asset offering both income and importantly, the opportunity to use our real estate expertise to deliver enhanced capital value to the investor.”
Bayerische Versorgungskammer is the competence and service centre for occupational and communal pension schemes and Germany´s largest pension scheme group under public law. It is the joint executive body of twelve liberal professions´ and communal pension schemes. Bayerische Versorgungskammer covers about 2 million insured persons in total, with contributions of €4 billion and €2.9 billion pension payments annually. It currently has €62 billion assets under management and 1,200 employees. Visit www.versorgungskammer.de for more information
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 199 cities in 19 countries. Hines has $87 billion of assets under management, including $43 billion for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services, and $44 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 104 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,100 properties, totaling over 346 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 531 properties, representing over 186 million square feet. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information.
