Principal Real Estate Europe (Principal), a leading European real estate investment manager, has completed €1.2 billion of real estate transactions across European funds and mandates during 2018.
Highlights from the year include the acquisition of the National Air Traffic Services Centre in Farnham for €90 million on behalf of a pension fund client; €137 million of assets for the Principal European Office Fund (formerly the ICE Office + fund); the €80 million acquisition of the Levallois office building for Saudi Investment Manager, SEDCO; €205 million of acquisitions in Germany for the German CARE Invest I fund and the French Novapierre Allemagne fund; and committed €350m in new developments for a US pension fund.
During the period, Principal completed €232 million of asset sales. Notable transactions included the disposal of the Euro Logistik fund for €120 million and two office assets in Portugal for a total of c. €60 million.
Looking ahead to 2019, Guillaume Masset, Head of Transactions and Asset Management in Europe for Principal Real Estate Europe, said: “We believe that the current sustained economic growth will continue to drive demand for commercial real across all property types in Europe, allowing landlords to maintain pricing power in the market and setting up favourable conditions for some rent inflation over the next 12 to 18 months.”
Andrew Thornton, CEO of Principal Real Estate Europe, said: “While there’s a lot going on in the global economy, Europe’s economy is in good shape, with the rental cycle lagging the US by 18 – 24 months. Among other factors, we believe these conditions will present real estate investors with some interesting opportunities in 2019, particularly for those focussed on sustainable long-term trends linked to demographics, innovation-led industries, globalisation and technology.”