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German fund manager Deka Immobilien has clinched its second acquisition in Spain with the purchase of a retail unit at Calle Serrano 5 in Madrid. the company’s chairman of the supervisory board Matthias Danne told PropertyEU at the EXPO REAL trade fair in Munich.

The company has acquired the asset on behalf of its Target Select Shopping Institutional Fund for around €20 mln. The property is leased to fashion retailer Adolfo Domínguez. Earlier this year, Deka was one of the first foreign institutional investors to make a comeback in Spain with the acquisition of the Ronda de Sant Pedro 5 mixed-use complex in Barcelona for around €19 mln.

‘We have been active in Spain since 1990 so we know the market quite well,’ said Danne. Deka has exploited an acquisition opportunity against the cyclical trend, and is planning further acquisitions in the country, Danne added.

This week, Deka also returned to the Portuguese market for the first time in five years with the purchase of the Baltico building in Lisbon for €43 mln. ‘The Portuguese market is small and more illiquid so we do not foresee additional acquisitions in this market,’ Danne added.

The German fund manager is also looking to raise its allocation to the UK property market which is currently under-represented in its open-ended investment funds, Danne said. ‘We sold a number of London properties back in 2006 and we are currently looking to rebalance our allocation to the capital city,’ Danne said. ‘Pricing is challenging because there is a lot of capital targeting the market but we would definitely like to do more.’ Deka’s recent acquisitions in the market include the Guardian HQ in London’s King Cross for £235 mln (€283 mln) and the Palestra building for €275 mln.

Commenting on the company’s acquisition strategy, Danne said that Deka will continue to focus on the UK, Germany, France, the Benelux and Poland. ‘We would like to be more active in Scandinavia as well but the market is very expensive,’ he noted.

On a global perspective, Deka intends to increase its exposure to North America where it is currently active only with its global fund. ‘Traditionally, Deka has focused largely on Europe but our new products in the future will include a larger exposure to international markets, particularly the US, where we currently are active from our New York office.’