Frankfurt, 17.12.2006
The real estate investor DIC Asset AG, listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange, has now purchased from Landesbank Berlin (LBB) their property portfolio consisting of 51 properties with a floor space of around 112,000 sqm. The total investment is around EUR 147 million. Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds (MSREF) as finance partner will give a share in the transaction of 50 per cent.
The taken over portfolio consists primarily of offices, retail outlets and service outlets. The properties are in good locations within the city of Berlin with several properties located, for example, in Wilmersdorf, Schöneberg and Charlottenburg. Among them 82 per cent are let – more than 50 per cent to tenants from the Landesbank Berlin association, who use them as retail outlets and as offices. The average lease is around five years, the initial yield is in excess of seven per cent. Through its asset and property management subsidiary, DIC Asset is planning to open a branch in Berlin, so as to manage this portfolio as well as the other activities of DIC within the Berlin region.
Ulrich Höller, Chairman of the Management Board of DIC Asset AG: “Following on from the recently completed transaction with the City of Hamburg, DIC Asset AG is making another noteworthy step towards regional diversification of its portfolio in Germany with this purchase.”
With this transaction, DIC Asset AG is increasing its portfolio to 320 properties with a floor space in excess of 920,000 sqm. The real estate under management will then amount to around EUR 2.2 billion. This expansion provides DIC Asset AG with the initial basis for a far more active portfolio management.
About DIC Asset AG
Established in 2002, DIC Asset AG, with registered offices in
Frankfurt/Main, is a real estate company with a dedicated investment
focus on commercial real estate in Germany, pursuing a return-oriented
investment policy. DIC Asset AG’s real estate portfolio currently
includes around 920,000 sqm of floor space, spread over 320 properties.
The portfolio is divided into three segments: the Core portfolio
includes the proprietary portfolio held on a long-term basis and
offering stable, attractive rental yields; the Value-Added portfolio
contains real estate with promising performance potential over the
medium term; while the Opportunistic Co-Investments portfolio is
comprised of real estate investments that have a more pronounced
risk/return profile, which will be placed with third parties following
a repositioning under an individual business plan. Real estate assets
under management currently amount to approx. EUR 2.2 billion. DIC Asset
AG, which is listed on the SDAX, has just successfully completed its
second capital increase this year. In total, EUR 400 million net has
been added to the company in 2006. The current market capitalization is
over EUR 800 million.