Nordicum - Real Estate Annual Finland 2014 | Page 71

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In addition to new real estate, the company
is also involved in the preservation of existing landmark buildings. Union Investment
has gained a lot experience in refurbishing
buildings from its existing stock. A prominent example is the repositioning of the former Unilever HQ in Hamburg which is now
a multi-let building and comprises the company’s Hamburg headquarters.
“The listed Emporio Tower received
the LEED Platinum label for sustainable
building last year. We would now like to

offer the same approach to our institutional
investors – a refurbishment fund with a special focus on sustainability,” La Pierre says.
Union Investment Real Estate GmbH,
Hamburg is one of the largest investment
managers for real estate in Germany, having
been active in the real estate business since
1965. It currently has assets under management of 23.3 billion euros in sixteen real
estate funds. Union Investment Real Estate
is Germany’s largest investment management company for open-ended real estate
funds.
“Union Investment offers open-ended
real estate funds designed for private investors and institutional customers,” explains
La Pierre.
“The solutions for institutional investors include also funds with a thematic focus as retail or budget hotel. We also provide innovative and tailored concepts for investors with special requirements, such as
service mandates and multi-manager concepts. Due to the different profiles of our
funds, we look for a variety of different regions and lot sizes.”

Core Competence
La Pierre reports that investments in citycentre office space and business parks are
“the mainstay” of the company’s investment
strategy.
“In addition, Union Investment is investing in logistics properties, shopping centres and business hotels in selected locations
that offer the prospect of attractive returns
over the medium and long term.” The company’s hotel portfolio consists of 29 properties with a current market value of €1.7 billion. Some €6 billion is invested in 38 shopping centres in Europe.
“Since 2005 our average acquisition
volume has been 1.7 billion EUR per year.
With a focus on the strong Western European and North American countries, our investment goal for 2014 is again some two
billion EUR.”
Lutz Ehrhardt
Photo: UPM

city Ruskeasuo office sub-market, which enjoys direct main road access to Helsinki’s
city centre and commercial district. Comprising four buildings and offering around
34,219 sq m of office space, the complex
is scheduled for final completion in 2015.
Another quite recent acquisition in
Finland was the new Alberga B office building in Espoo which was acquired in 2012 for
the company’s Europe fund. The vendor was
Finnish project developer NCC Property Development. That same year, the company also acquired the Eventes Business Garden, an
office development already 100% pre-let on
a long lease. Also, the new headquarters of
Outotec Oyj, a listed technology, engineering and plant construction company with a
strong credit rating, is scheduled for completion by mid-2014. Union Investment is
forward funding the project by Finnish developer Peab Oy, which offers some 14,133
square metres of rental space.
“We would like to expand our high
quality portfolio in Finland next year. The
high-growth metropolitan region of Helsinki
remains a key investment focus for us. We
could also imagine investing again in project developments like we have done several times. Investments in project developments – via forward purchase – give us the
chance to secure core properties which are
not easy to find these days,” La Pierre lays
out the game plan.

Global Reach
For more than a decade now, the company
has been branching out to the world very actively. Since 2002, in particular, Union Investment has greatly expanded its investment reach, entering more than 20 new national markets and adding countries such as
Mexico, Singapore and Malaysia to the more
traditional European locations.
Union Investment Real Estate is currently operating in 23 countries worldwide,
with approximately 60 % of property assets located outside its domestic (German)
market. With a share of some 42 %, the European markets outside of Germany are the
main investment region. Union Investment
operates through its own specialist teams
in Hamburg, local offices in Paris, Madrid,
New York and Singapore, and a growing
network of strategic partners.

Great Deal to
Close the Year

U

nion Investment’s latest investment
deal in Finland is the acquisition of
the prestigious UPM-Kymmene
Corporation’s head office in Helsinki. Announced in December, the contract covers
a 15-year lease of the 12,426 square metre
premises in the city centre, which Union
Investment purchased for some EUR 74
million from UPM.
Philip La Pierre, head of Investment Management Europe at Union Investment, comments that the company is
very pleased to have had this rare opportunity to acquire a modern