Colonia Real Estate Solutions, a subsidiary of Frankfurt-listed property investment and management firm Colonia Real Estate, is to merge with Larus Asset Management, becoming the fourth-largest provider of property services in Germany with a real estate volume of around EUR 4 bn.

The new combine will operate under the name Polares Real Estate Asset Management and be managed by Michael Amann and Timo Wolf. Colonia said the merger allows for leveraging synergies and adds commercial property management to the services offered by the segment.

Polares REAM will be a one-stop provider of a wide range of property services, specialising in the management of multi-regional portfolios held by private and institutional investors.

'The merger of the two companies under the Colonia umbrella is a bundling of expertise and lays the foundation for continued growth as well as improved profitability from operations. We are expecting to see an increase in profits in this area even in 2011,' said Colonia CEO Rolf Elgeti.

The top three property services firms in Germany are Corpus Sireo, HIH and EPM Assetis.