The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global and joint venture partner AXA France Insurance Companies have agreed to buy two buildings in Germany for a total of 784 million euros, or approximately 5.8 billion kroner, from the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The transaction, set to be completed before year-end, gives each partner a 50 percent stake in each building. The properties are located in Berlin and Frankfurt and are used mainly for office and retail purposes. Payment for the properties will be split equally between NBIM and AXA France.
“This marks the fund’s first property investment in Germany,” says Karsten Kallevig, chief investment officer for real estate at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), manager of the fund. “It is in line with our strategy to build our real estate portfolio by initially investing in large, well-developed markets alongside partners with aligned interests.”
NBIM and AXA France in 2011 formed a joint venture where AXA Real Estate provides asset management services. The partnership’s first investments were in properties in and around Paris. The fund is also invested in real estate in London and Paris through joint ventures with The Crown Estate and Generali Group, as well as the UK shopping centre Meadowhall with British Land.
The building in Berlin is located on the well-known Kurfürstendamm boulevard. It has 72,400 square metres of office and retail space over 16 floors. The second property, located in Frankfurt’s central business district, consists of 81,600 square metres of predominantly office space.
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) safeguards and builds financial wealth for future generations as the manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global. The fund is invested globally in equity, fixed-income and real estate markets. It held assets worth 3,561 billion kroner at the end of June 2012.
AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (AXA Real Estate) is the largest real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe, with over €42 billion of assets under management as at the end of June 2012. It has over 130 third-party institutional clients spread across the world, in addition to managing funds for 10 AXA insurance companies.