pbb lends €105m to AVILA, €84m to WCM, £52m to Prologis

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided a €105m package of loans to AVILA Management & Consulting for the development of a residential scheme in Berlin.

The facility will be used primarily to build a 473-unit development in Berlin’s Neukölln district, as well as refurbish the existing listed buildings on the site.

“Berlin’s attractiveness remains high,” said Gerhard Meitinger, head of real estate finance for Germany at pbb. “Buying power and rents are further increasing and the positive trend in the economic and demographic development continues.”

pbb has also extended another €84m to property investor WCM Beteiligungs- und Grundbeitz-AG for further office acquisitions in Germany.

The new financing takes the German bank’s total commitment to Frankfurt-based WCM to almost €130m.

The latest facility, which reflects an overall loan-to-value (LTV) of 75%, will be used to finance two purchases: the €90m acquisition of the Main Triangel building in Frankfurt from Aareal Bank and the €22m acquisition of an office block in Berlin from GE Real Estate Property GmbH.

The loan follows a €45.5m facility provided by pbb in December last year for the €64m purchase of three office buildings in Bonn, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt, reflecting a LTV of around 71%, all also sold by GE Real Estate Property GmbH.

The facility was drawn down earlier this year and WCM had paid €241,000 in interest by the end of June, according to its mid-year accounts for 2015.

“WCM is successfully expanding its portfolio by acquiring high quality real estate. We view this commitment very positively given the management’s experience and existing knowledge in terms of asset management of the properties,” said Meitinger.

Publicly listed WCM primarily targets office and retail core-plus and value-add assets in Germany. It currently has seven assets in its portfolio, including an Obi hardware and DIY store in Olpe, near Cologne. It is aiming to build a €1bn commercial property portfolio.

In the UK, pbb has provided a £52m facility to logistics specialist, Prologis, for the purchase of three distribution centres.

The long-term loan, made to Prologis Targeted Europe Logistics Fund FCP-FIS (PTELF), will finance the equity used to buy the assets, two of which are located at Ryton, near Newcastle, and one in Enfield, near London.

“pbb’s structuring capabilities and sound execution give us the flexibility required to operate the best logistics platform in Europe,” said Christian Nickels-Teske, head of treasury for Europe and capital markets for Prologis.

The pan-European PTELF, launched in 2007, is an open-end co-investment fund that invests in logistics assets near airports, ports and cities. The fund owns 100 properties covering 1.6 million sq m as at June 30 2015.

Charles Balch, head of international real estate finance at pbb, said the latest Prologis deal “followed a similar sized transaction for Prologis European Properties Fund II, secured on four assets at Heathrow Hayes”.