DIC Asset AG, Germany’s listed real estate company, has agreed to acquire the “Stadthaus”, a landmark office property in Cologne for €500 million through its subsidiary GEG German Estate Group AG from Korean investor Mirae Asset Global Investments.
Frankfurt-based company said in a press release that it had purchased the property on behalf of five German institutional investors, Gothaer Asset Management AG, the Versicherungskammer Bayern, DEVK insurance, a Lufthansa pension fund and the Ärzteversorgung Land Brandenburg.
“With the transaction, we not only substantially exceed our original purchase target of EUR 1.3 billion, but after the completed integration of GEG, we also prove the effectiveness of our newly established transaction team,” commented the CEO of DIC Asset AG, Sonja Wärntges, the purchase. “With the long-term mandate, we are taking another big step towards our medium-term goal of € 10bn assets under management, and we have also been able to offer our clients a highly attractive landmark property with a Triple A tenant which is characterized by long-term stable cash flows and distributions.”
The property is located in Cologne-Deutz, in the immediate vicinity of the Lanxess Arena and the ICE train station.
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The landmark office property in Cologne has a rentable area of over 100,000 square meters and a total of about 2,900 parking spaces. It is fully and long-term leased to the city of Cologne. The office space is spread over 16 floors in two parts of the building and is used by five of the nine departments of the Cologne city administration. The average remaining term of the leases for the property is currently around 9 years.
The buyer side was advised by CMS, Frankfurt (legal and tax) and CBRE (technical). Mirae was advised by Ashurst, Frankfurt (legal and tax). JLL brokered the transaction.