German fund manager HIH is marketing development projects and existing core assets worth a combined EUR 300 mln as it seeks to take advantage of strong interest in the German market on the part of American and Asian investors.
German fund manager HIH is marketing development projects and existing core assets worth a combined EUR 300 mln as it seeks to take advantage of strong interest in the German market on the part of American and Asian investors.
'Foreign investors are showing strong appetite for German real estate, due to the market's stability but also the positive effects of a decline of the euro currency,' Matthias Brodesser, head of HIH's acquisitions, told PropertyEU on Tuesday during the Mipim trade fair in Cannes. 'This is why we are launching this disposal programme this year, mostly targeted at international parties which could be interested in joint ventures with local partners.'
Brodesser declined to provide details about the assets, but said one of the projects is located in Hamburg.
The company is also eyeing investment mandates for sovereign wealth funds, which are expected to bring in an additional EUR 100 mln of equity to the group's fund management business in 2012. 'We closed EUR 705 mln of transactions on behalf of our clients last year, and the share of deals closed for international investors was insignificant. But this is starting to change,' he noted.
Brodesser said HIH plans to be more active on the international front as well, as demonstrated by the launch last June of its first Austrian real estate fund which acquired a mixed-use scheme in Vienna for EUR 29 mln. Brodesser: 'We are now looking at the Netherlands. We believe cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam offer good value at the moment.'