Epf - €100m purchases

Savills Investment Management (“Savills IM”), the international property investment manager, has continued its investment programme into Dutch real estate with the acquisition of the AaBe Retail, taking total recent investment commitments in the region to €100m.

The acquisition marks the third in 2015, following the purchase of a new High St retail development in Enschede and a new logistics unit in Amsterdam. 

AaBe Retail Park comprises a new scheme of approx. 30,000 sqm within the urban area of Tilburg, and was acquired on behalf of the European Retail Fund (ERF).  It comprises three phases, and is largely pre-let to tenants including Lidl, Jumbo, Blokker and BCC. The Jumbo supermarket has already been put forward as one of the best supermarkets in the country. The developer, Rialto, will continue to provide management services.

In Enschede, the ERF also acquired a new, prime retail High St development, fully let to Mango and leading Dutch fashion retailer Cool Cat. The development opened earlier this year.

In the logistics sector, the European Logistics Fund acquired a brand new logistics unit of circa 20,000 sqm in Amsterdam, let to Kuehne & Nagel, which is servicing Albert Heijn's northern distribution centre at Zaandam. The developer was Somerset.

Savills IM was advised by Delta State and JLL, and Simmons & Simmons. Savills Netherlands provides technical and property management services. 

Ian Jones, Investment Director at Savills IM, commented:

"We have been monitoring the improving Dutch economy in 2015 and believe that the Netherlands offers a compelling story in terms of the possibility to acquire prime real estate in the retail and logistics sectors, at attractive prices compared with other leading western European economies. We anticipate making further acquisitions on behalf of clients in the coming months, to complement the investment of approximately €100m so far."