Signa Holding, the investment vehicle of Austrian businessman Rene Benko, has confirmed the acquisition of three commercial properties offering a combined 40,000 m2 in the German cities of Munich and Hamburg for EUR 500 mln. A company spokesperson told PropertyEU on Monday that additional details will be disclosed in the next few days.

The transaction involves the Karstadt Oberpollinger and Karstadt Sport commercial properties in Munich's pedestrian zone, which were divested by the Highstreet consortium, as well as the Spitalerstraße 22-26 asset in Hamburg, which was sold by Vattenfall Europe.

The deal comes hard on the heels of Highstreet's sale last week of another EUR 250 mln chunk of its portfolio to German property company Quantum Immobilien KAG. The Highstreet consortium comprises Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Funds (51%), Deutsche Bank's RREEF funds (24%), Milan-based Prelios, (12%), Generali (11%) and the Borletti Group.

Signa Holding has completed a number of high-profile acquisitions in the past 18 months. In May last year, the company teamed up with a large German insurance group to buy a 100% interest in the IZD Tower in Vienna from Matrix European Real Estate Investment Trust (MEREIT) for over EUR 212 mln. The 38-storey property comprises approximately 63,000 m2 and is the largest office tower in Vienna. In January 2010, Signa Holding also purchased the Hyperion portfolio from Bank Austria for over EUR 100 mln.