Aggregate Holdings sells three further segments of Quartier Heidestrasse for €488m completion value
Aggregate Holdings sells three further segments of Quartier Heidestrasse for €488m completion value
- QH Colonnades, QH Straight & QH Crown 2 sold at premium to appraised completion value
- Demonstrates strong fundamental value of QH, with 5 segments sold in 2022
- Combined sale volume of c.€950m achieved to date, representing 1/3 value of full QH
Luxembourg, 10 November 2022 - Aggregate Holdings S.A., through its subsidiary QH GmbH, has sold QH Colonnades, QH Straight and QH Crown 2 for a gross purchase price of €488m, at a premium to its externally appraised gross development value as of FY 21. The three Quartier Heidestrasse segments have a combined gross construction area of 91,668 sqm and lettable area of 52,407 sqm. The properties are already more than 65% completed, with remaining construction works to be completed by Q2 2023. Expected combined rental income is €15m per annum.
The successful sale demonstrates the strong underlying value of QH as a prime asset that is located ten minutes walking distance from Berlin’s government district. Leasing volumes continue to be strong for Grade A office space in top locations. In September, Aggregate leased 23,000 sqm in QH Track to a leading DAX40 group that became the second largest QH tenant behind SAP, which has leased 37,000 sqm also in QH Track. QH Track is the largest building unit in Quartier Heidestrasse and a pure-play office building that spans over 160,000 sqm of gross construction area and 111,000 sqm net lettable area. With a combined pre-let area of 72,000 sqm, QH Track has already achieved a total pre-let ratio of 65% and an expected rental income of c.€45m per annum.
The transaction is structured as a sale of the holding company “4 Ensembles” which consists of QH Colonnades, QH Straight, QH Crown 2 and QH Spring. The signed QH Spring sale to Vivion Investments S.à.r.l., as announced in September, will transfer and is expected to be closed by January 2023 with the new owner, and is excluded from the reported gross purchase price of €488m. Post the sale, Aggregate will have successfully sold five segments of QH for a combined value of €950m, representing c.1/3rd of the value of the project. Aggregate and the existing project manager will continue to develop and manage the assets until completion.
The assets are sold to a consortium led by Imfarr, a family-owned real estate development and investment office. The net sale proceeds will be used to further repay debt at QH, and the transaction in whole will reduce QH Group gross debt by c.€360m as of HY 2022. Combined with the earlier sale of two QH segments, the two transactions will reduce Aggregate’s loan-to-value ratio (LTV) by c.4 percentage points pro-forma for HY 22.
“The continued interest in Quartier Heidestrasse, in this challenging transaction environment, demonstrates the quality and attractiveness of prime Berlin assets. Our buyer will benefit from rising rental income and appreciating asset values over the coming years. This transaction reiterates our value expectations for the remaining segments and provides strong progress on deleveraging our capital structure to gain the financial strength to take advantage of future opportunities.” commented Cevdet Caner, Chief Executive Officer of Aggregate Holdings.
Contact
Benjamin Lee, Chief Financial Officer
Tel : +352 20 30 14 60
Mob : +44 7415 121218
b.lee@aggregateholdings.com
Boris Lemke, Investment Director
Tel : +352 20 30 14 60
Mob : +44 7943 025474
b.lemke@aggregateholdings.com
Dr Christoph Walther, Consigliere Consult
Mob : +49 151 12241630
christoph.walther@consigliere-consult.com
Xander Heijnen, Consigliere Consult
Mob : +49 172 811 9728
xander.heijnen@consigliere-consult.com
About Aggregate Holdings
Aggregate Holdings SA (“Aggregate”) is a predominantly German-focused real estate investment company, with significant presence also in Portugal. As at H1 2022, the company had €7.9bn of assets and a project portfolio with €10.2bn Gross Development Value. In its Build & Hold division, Aggregate owned Quartier Heidestrasse, the largest mixed use real estate development project in central Berlin with c.371,000 sqm of gross floor area (“GFA”), Fuerst, the prime commercial asset located on Kurfuerstendamm in central Berlin with c.183,000 sqm of GFA, and Walter and Green Living projects in Berlin with a combined GFA of c.762,000 sqm. Aggregate also owns in its Build & Sell division VIC Properties, the largest real estate developer in Portugal with c.727,000 sqm of GFA and €3.0bn Gross Development Value. Additionally, Aggregate holds a c.6% strategic stake in Adler Group SA, among other investments.