Tishman Speyer acquires Hamburg portfolio from DIFA

DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG completed the sale of a portfolio of 3 buildings to Tishman Speyer's European Core Fund, ESOF. The properties are located in central Hamburg at Valentinskamp 18-22, Neue ABC-Strasse and St. Anscharplatz 7-10, totalling over 18,000 sq m and includes an underground car park with 236 parking spaces. The major lessees include the insurance broker, Funk Gruppe GmbH and the banking group, HSBC.

This purchase represents Tishman Speyer's second investment in Hamburg, the company having teamed with two partners in 2005 to acquire four properties that form part of the HafenCity's Hanseatic Trade Center.

The asset was sold by DIFA-Fonds Nr. 1, the fund for which DIFA originally developed the property in 1988, above book value. As part of its policy of active portfolio management DIFA is using the sale as an opportunity to shift the focus of DIFA-Fonds Nr. 1, which to date has chiefly been on domestic markets, by increasing the proportion of international holdings.

Germany remains a key investment location for DIFA, however. In recent weeks the Union Investment Group company has purchased properties in Hamburg, Dresden and Munich for one of its institutional funds.

Tishman Speyer is one of the leading owners, developers, and operators of first class real estate in the world. Since its founding in 1978, the company has acquired or developed a portfolio of over 76 million square feet (7 million square metres), valued at over €19 bil-lion. Tishman Speyer’s reputation for globally recognised properties includes such wellknown icons as New York City’s Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center, London’s Tower Place, Frankfurt’s Messe Turm and Berlin’s Sony Center.

DIFA is a leading international capital investment company specialised in the management of openended real estate funds for private and institutional investors. Assets under management amount to 14,5 billion euros. DIFA is part of both the Union Investment Gruppe and the FinanzVerbund der Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken alliance.

The portfolios of DIFA’s openended real estate funds include some 220 properties and projects in Europe and North America.