Member Article

CLS Holdings snaps up 12 German properties in £131m continental shopping spree

London-headquartered property investor, CLS Holdings, has exchanged contracts on a portfolio of 12 in German after agreeing a deal with Zublin Immobilien.

The deal for the buildings, which have some high-profile tenants, is for a total cash consideration of around €148m (£131m) and will be financed from CLS Holdings’ ’internal resources, with the property firm expecting the deal to go through by the third quarter of 2017.

Comprising 963,596 sq ft of multi-let office space with an occupancy rate of 89%, tenants including the Bosch Group, Alpine Electronics and The State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia contribute to a net rent of £8.9m per annum.

As part of the agreement, CLS will acquire 11 of the 12 properties through two of Zublin’s subsidiaries with the 12th a direct acquisition. The exact locations of the buildings have not been revealed although their location is in-keeping with CLS’ strategy of investing in non-prime areas.

Fredrik Widlund, Chief Executive of CLS, commented that the firm remained ‘committed’ to investing in its core markets, and that the 12-strong portfolio would go some way to strengthening its position in Germany.

He said: “This acquisition is a significant step towards our stated goal of increasing our presence in Germany.

“It will add significantly to cash flow and is in line with our strategy of identifying properties in well-located, non-prime areas of major European cities providing highly diversified tenant bases, with scope for us to drive value through local asset management opportunities.

“The decision to acquire this portfolio reflects our confidence in the broader German market, and many of these sites are located in cities where there is a structural shortage of office supply.”