November 1, 2010
TORONTO, ON (November 1, 2010) – In a joint venture, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPPIB”) and a value add fund managed by LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”) have acquired a regional shopping centre in the city of Hürth in Germany for €157.3 million.
The centre, known as Hürth Park, previously belonged to the open-ended property fund Degi Europe, which is managed by Aberdeen Immobilien Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH, and is now in liquidation. CPPIB now owns 80% of the centre while the La Salle fund holds 20%.
Located 10 kilometres south of Cologne, the shopping centre has a leasable area of approximately 60,000 square metres and an annual rental income of approximately €12.5 million. Anchor tenants include the fashion retailer Peek & Cloppenburg, Real, a hypermarket, and Saturn, a media store.
The joint venture has planned a comprehensive refurbishment as well as a new positioning of the centre.
David Ironside, Managing Director LaSalle Germany and responsible for acquisitions in Continental Europe, said: “The German real estate market continues to be one of the key markets in Europe and is set to recover significantly with very good investment opportunities. To take advantage of these opportunities is the order of the day – particularly in the case of a shopping centre with such manifold potential.“
Wenzel Hoberg, Vice-President and Head of Real Estate Investments – International, CPPIB, said: “We are pleased to partner alongside LaSalle to acquire Hϋrth Park, our first direct real estate investment in Germany. Hϋrth Park is a well-leased and well-situated regional shopping center. This investment is fully aligned with our international retail strategy to acquire prime retail shopping centres in key markets.”
Jones Lang LaSalle advised Aberdeen on the transaction and conducted the sales process. ECE was involved in the due diligence process and will continue to be responsible for the management of Hürth Park.
About LaSalle Investment Management LaSalle Investment Management, Inc., a member of the Jones Lang LaSalle group (NYSE: JLL), is a leading global real estate investment manager, with approximately $39 billion of assets under management of private and public property equity investments. LaSalle is active across a range of real estate capital and operating markets including private and public, debt and equity and our clients include public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information, visit www.lasalle.com.
About Canada Pension Plan Investment Board The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is a professional investment management organization that invests the funds not needed by the Canada Pension Plan to pay current benefits on behalf of 17 million Canadian contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build a diversified portfolio of CPP assets, the CPPIB invests in public equities, private equities, real estate, inflation-linked bonds, infrastructure and fixed income instruments. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in London and Hong Kong, the CPPIB is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At June 30, 2010, the CPP Fund totaled $129.7 billion of which $7.9 billion represented real estate investments. For more information about the CPPIB, please visit www.cppib.ca.
For further information contact:
Linda Sims
Director, Media Relations
(416) 868-8695