London-based Henderson Park is deploying equity from one of its funds to make the majority stake acquisition in GBI, who expects to accelerate growth plans for sustainable and ESG-compliant real estate projects in subsidized and private market residential, serviced apartments, student housing and senior living concepts, under its established SMARTments brand.

Reiner Nittka, CEO of GBI, said: ‘We welcome Henderson Park as our new majority shareholder. We share the same vision as Henderson Park, who is investing on behalf of institutional clients with a strong focus on ESG. Equally, we are pleased that the Moses Mendelssohn Foundation, GBI’s former majority shareholder, will stay invested in the company with a minority stake and our existing cooperation will continue.’

Christophe Kuhbier, MD at Henderson Park, said: ‘GBI’s management team has built an impressive business. There is clear demand for the ESG-compliant real estate that GBI has a track record of delivering, and we’re confident in our ability to jointly scale the platform, whilst working in close coordination with GBI Capital’s investors to accelerate quality new home developments.”

Rothschild & Co acted as financial adviser to GBI in relation to this transaction.