17 November 2015

Prudential and Qatar units buy German retail properties

A joint venture formed by US-based Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI) and QInvest, Qatar's leading investment bank, has acquired a portfolio of 16 retail properties in western Germany.

The acquisition includes 16 multi-tenant retail assets anchored by major grocery and home-improvement retail outlets and comprises more than 140,000 sq m across 57 units.

Key tenants include some of the largest German retailers. PREI will act as the portfolio and asset manager for the properties. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

"The acquisition provides investors with access to long-term income returns through strong underlying leases with major German retailers in proven, diversified, regional markets," said Sebastiano Ferrante, head of Germany for PREI.

PREI now manages more than €700m ($745m) of German retail assets on behalf of its investors. PREI is the real estate investment management and advisory business of Prudential Financial, and operates as Pramerica Real Estate Investors in markets outside the Americas, Korea and Japan. The firm had gross assets under management of $61.5bn ($45.7bn net) at 30 June2015.

In mid-2016 PREI will be renamed PGIM Real Estate (IAR, 12 November, Sifi tag benefits Prudential's asset management arm, says CEO).