Qatar’s leading investment bank QInvest said it has joined hands with US-based Pramerica Real Estate Investors to acquire a portfolio of 16 retail properties located across Germany.

The transaction was completed through a newly-formed joint venture between the two companies on Monday (November 16).

Pramerica Real Estate Investors is the real estate investment management and advisory business of Prudential Financial, and operates as Prudential Real Estate Investors in the Americas, Korea and Japan.

The acquisition includes 16 multi-tenant retail assets anchored by major grocery and home improvement retail outlets, comprising more than 140,000 sq m across Germany. Key tenants include some of the largest German retailers.

As per the deal, Pramerica will act as the portfolio and asset manager for the properties.

On the deal, Craig Cowie, the head of real estate at QInvest, said: "The transaction provides us with higher yielding exposure with value add upside secured by defensive assets in one of the more robust EU economies."

QInvest’s real estate unit invests opportunistically in both junior financing and equity for assets in the US, Western Europe and the UK. The areas of focus are sector agnostic and include core, value add and greenfield developments.

"We intend offering equity to our shareholders and clients as part of our ongoing initiative to offer value add returns to all stakeholders," he stated.

With this acquisition, Pramerica continues to execute on its strategy to capitalize on strong performance in the basic needs sector in Europe, including grocery and home improvement-anchored schemes. It now manages more than €700 million ($753 million) of German retail assets on behalf of its investors.

"The acquisition provides investors with access to long-term income returns through strong underlying leases with major German retailers in proven, diversified, regional markets," remarked Sebastiano Ferrante, the head of Germany for Pramerica.

“We are pleased to partner with QInvest to capitalise on the attractive fundamentals of the German economy and the overall retail investment market,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service