(BERLIN) – Hines, the international real estate firm announced today on behalf of the Korean pension fund National Pension Service (NPS) the pending sale of Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz to a partnership of Oxford Properties (the global real estate arm of OMERS, the pension plan for Ontario’s municipal employees) and Madison International Realty for approximately €1.1 billion. BNP-Paribas, Eastdil, Pöllath+Partner, EY and PwC advised Hines throughout the disposition. GreenbergTraurig acted as advisor to Oxford Properties. Madison was advised by Freshfields.
In 2010, Hines led the €585 million acquisition of the Sony Center for NPS from a Morgan Stanley managed fund. Hines’ comprehensive asset management plan included strategic technical refurbishments, top-class management and subsequent releasing at favorable rates. The projected holding period was 7 years, and with this sale, the original pro forma was significantly exceeded.
Sony Corporation completed development of the Helmut Jahn-designed complex in 2000. With its prominent roof atop the public forum as well as the 103 meter BahnTower, the eight building complex is among Berlin’s most outstanding real estate. With office, residential and large-scale entertainment components, the center attracts approximately 8.3 million annual visitors. Current anchor tenants are Deutsche Bahn, Sanofi, the State of Berlin, Sony, WeWork and Facebook.
The Sony Center was one of the first investments made by NPS in Europe, following the acquisition of the HSBC headquarters building in London, which was successfully disposed in late 2014 creating substantial profit to the pension fund. In addition to Europe, NPS has been also active in North America and Asia and its investment appetite for global real estate is still in a growth mode.
“This strategic defensive sale exceeded our expectations and we are poised to continue to invest in global real estate in a selective manner,” said Scott Kim, Head of Global Real Estate, National Pension Service of Korea.
Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe: “The Sony-Center was the first investment we executed on behalf of NPS globally. With this sale we will harvest an outstanding success for one of our most important clients.”
“Berlin is one of Hines’ most robust markets in Germany and Europe and we look forward to continuing our multi-sector activity here,” commented Christoph Reschke, co-head of Hines in Germany.
About National Pension Service of Korea: The National Pension Service of Korea (NPS) is one of the largest pension funds in the world with KRW601.8 trillion (approx. $525 billion) in assets as of July 31, 2017. NPS manages its funds investing in financial investment assets both of domestic and global, while diversifying the investment portfolio into equities and alternative asset classes such as private equity, real estate, and infrastructure project. Out of its total assets under management, alternative asset component comprises about 11%, including real estate investments globally.
About Hines: Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 201 cities in 21 countries. Hines has approximately $100 billion of assets under management, including $54.5 billion for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services, and $45.5 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 113 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,262 properties, totaling over 414 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 529 properties, representing over 213 million square feet. Visit www.hines.com for more information.