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A joint venture of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) and AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (AXA Real Estate) has agreed to buy two buildings in Germany for a total of EUR 784 mln from the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The acquisition represents NBIM's first foray into Germany and comes hard on the heels of the group's Monday acquisition of a 50% interest in the freehold of Meadowhall Shopping Centre.

NBIM is the manager of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global.

The transaction, which is expected to complete before the year-end, gives each partner in the joint venture, a 50% stake in the portfolio. The properties are located in Berlin and Frankfurt and are used mainly for office and retail purposes. Payment for the properties will be split equally between the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global and AXA France.

The building in Berlin is located on the well-known Kurfürstendamm Boulevard. It has 72,400 m² of office and retail space over 16 floors. The second property, located in Frankfurt's central business district, consists of 81,600 m² of predominantly office space.

This transaction follows the announcement in July 2011 of a joint venture between NBIM and AXA Real Estate, acting on behalf of AXA France Insurance Companies, to co-invest in a EUR 1.4 bn portfolio of seven assets prime office properties in and around Paris. A subsequent co-investment into a EUR 290 mln portfolio of Paris office assets was also made in November 2011.

'This deal is in line with our strategy to build our real estate portfolio by initially investing in large, well-developed markets alongside partners with aligned interests,' said Karsten Kallevig, chief investment officer for real estate at NBIM.

'We are also extremely pleased to continue our relationship with Norges Bank Investment Management, particularly as we are assisting with its first investment in Germany, while at the same allowing AXA France to achieve its stated strategy of diversifying investments in to other European markets, especially the UK and Germany,' added Pierre Vaquier, CEO of AXA Real Estate.

Jones Lang LaSalle acted as lead adviser for RBS.