Union Investment assets grow

In Poland, the fund made three acquisitions with a combined value of EUR 480 mln, including the acquisition of the Magnolia Park shopping centre in Wrocław for EUR 380 mln, which was its largest investment globally last year.

“In 2017 we entered the residential real estate segment, and also made progress in digitisation,” comments Reinhard Kutscher, the CEO of Union Investment RE. “This year we will also consider other options for diversifying,” he adds.

In 2017 payments from private and institutional investors reached EUR 2.9 bln while EUR 3.2 bln was allocated for the acquisition of real estate. However, a year earlier, Union Investment acquired EUR 4 bln of properties.

“For each transaction our benchmark is always our promise to investors to minimise the volatility of returns. This means zero compromise in terms of the quality of the properties we take over,” insists Reinhard Kutscher.

In 2017 Union Investment made 27 real estate acquisitions in the commercial segment in seven countries in Europe and beyond. In addition, investment teams managed by Martin J. Bruhl completed 19 real estate transactions with a total value of app. EUR 600 mln. The hotel segment accounted for an extremely large share of the investment activity of Union Investment RE.

Last year, the company carried out five transactions in this segment (in Germany, the US and Poland) with a total value of app. EUR 460 mln. Last year (similar to 2016), Poland was one of the company’s priority markets in terms of investment activity. In addition to the record transaction in Wrocław, the fund also acquired the Poznań Maraton office building for EUR 60 mln and a hotel property.