Swiss fund manager Acron has acquired the four-star Steigenberger hotel at Berlin Brandenburg International Airport from Germany's ECE Projektmanagement for a price of EUR 59.5 mln. The hotel will be completed in June 2012 to coincide with the start of operations at the new airport of the German capital. It has already been leased with a long-term rental agreement (25 years) to local hotel group Steigenberger.

The property - the only hotel with a direct connection to the terminal - represents the first German acquisition for Acron. 'We are pleased that we were able to acquire a property that meets the highest quality standards and is situated in an exciting location with a great deal of development potential,' said Kai Bender, CEO of Acron.

The property offers 322 rooms including 27 suites, as well as a restaurant, bar, conference and meeting rooms, and a large wellness center. ECE is assuming the construction, acceptance and completion risks.

'The sale to an investor as prominent as Acron confirms the correctness of our strategy of developing hotels exclusively at outstanding, highly traveled locations with selected leasing partners,' added Martin Rodeck, ECE's Project Director in Hamburg.

The acquisition was structured as a single-property investment company called Acron Berlin Brandenburg International Airporthotel (ABBIA). The plan is to present the investment to interested shareholders in the course of 2011 with a forecast annual return for investors from the distribution of 6% on the capital invested, Acron said.