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The largest real estate investment transaction reported by PropertyEU between 5 - 9 January 2009 was the acquisition of 284 properties by the Omega fund, managed by Italian fund manager Fimit, from Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo for EUR 850 mln. Omicron Plus Immobiliare, a fund also managed by Fimit, ranks in second place with the acquisition of 72 assets from another Italian bank, UniCredit, for EUR 800 mln.

Top 5 deals* for Week 2 (5-9 January 2009)

1. Fimit closes EUR 850m purchase of Intesa Sanpaolo's real estate

2. UniCredit sells EUR 930m worth of assets to Fimit fund

3. Limitless agrees to pay EUR 475m for Risanamento's Falck site

4. Banks buy EUR 443m assets from Martinsa-Fadesa

5. AXA acquires European assets for EUR 260m

* Deals for which the investment volume was given

Scroll down for the news on the deals

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1)

Fimit closes EUR 850m purchase of Intesa Sanpaolo's real estate
Date: 5 January 2009
Category: Office

Italian fund manager Fimit has completed the acquisition of 284 properties from bank Intesa Sanpaolo for a total of EUR 850 mln. The assets, which offer over 420,000 m² of commercial space, were transferred before the New Year to Fimit's Omega real estate fund. Fimit said it is retaining around 30% of the fund's units, with 70% being held by several institutional investors including Intesa Sanpaolo, Fondiaria Sai as well as pension funds Inarcassa and Enasarco.

The portfolio includes historic buildings such as Palazzo Biandra in Milan, Palazzo Deffenu in Cagliari, Intesa Sanpaolo headquarters in Rome and IMI headquarters in the Eur district of Rome. Fimit said that the transaction is the largest property deal completed in Italy this year.

In early 2008 Intesa Sanpaolo transferred the properties to its real estate arm Immit, saying it planned to spin off the portfolio in an Initial Public Offering worth up to EUR 1.05 bn. But as a result of slack investor demand the company was forced in June to suspend the IPO. In early August Fimit signed a letter of intent for the real estate assets of Intesa Sanpaolo, and launched a binding offer for the properties at the end of August.

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2)

UniCredit sells EUR 930m worth of assets to Fimit fund
Date: 6 January 2009
Category: Investment

Italian bank UniCredit has sold part of its real estate portfolio to the Omicron Plus Immobiliare fund run by Italian property fund manager Fimit for EUR 800 mln. The bank is retaining the use of the buildings as well as a 33% stake in the fund. Omicron is being invested by institutional investors including Fimit's listed investment vehicle Beta Immobiliare, which bought 1,200 units of Omicron for a total of EUR 30 mln.

Unicredit, whose real estate portfolio worldwide is worth EUR 7 bn, has sold a portfolio of 72 real estate properties with a total market value of EUR 930 mln. The portfolio, with 300,000 m² of total surface, includes trophy assets such as the bank's Broggi head office in Milan's Piazza Cordusio, and the its offices in Parma, Bologna and Florence.

The buildings are let with long term leases of 18 years, with a renewable option for six years. Fimit was advised by law firm Studio Grimaldi & Associati and Leonardo & Co.

UniCredit was rumoured to sell the assets to Fimit in November, with Italian media reporting that the sale could fetch up to EUR 1.8 bn, involving around 200 buildings. In December the bank warned that it was looking instead at a smaller deal as a result of 'the current adverse market conditions'.

Last week Fimit also completed the acquisition of 284 properties from bank Intesa Sanpaolo for a total of EUR 850 mln. The assets, which offer over 420,000 m² of commercial space, were transferred before the New Year to Fimit's Omega real estate fund. Fimit is retaining around 30% of the fund's units, with 70% being held by several institutional investors including Intesa Sanpaolo, Fondiaria Sai as well as pension funds Inarcassa and Enasarco.

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3)

Limitless agrees to pay EUR 475m for Risanamento's Falck site
Date: 5 January 2009
Category: Development

Italian property developer Risanamento has reached a preliminary agreement on the sale of its vast Falck redevelopment project located in Milan's Sesto San Giovanni district to the Dubai fund Limitless.

The Italian company said the transaction, which is conditional to approval by market authorities, values the project at around EUR 475 mln, of which around EUR 250 mln will be paid at the closing of the transaction and the rest within 12 to 24 months.

Debt-laden Risanamento confirmed in July that it had received a letter of intent from Limitless for the purchase of its Falck project as well as its large redevelopment plan in Milano Santa Giulia. The group, which faces EUR 2.6 bn in debt, put up to EUR 1bn of assets on the market earlier this year to help improve its debt situation as it struggled to refinance its credit facilities.

According to Italian financial newspaper Il Sole 24 ore, Risanamento has a loan of EUR 260 mln from Intesa Sanpaolo on the Falck area, which will be transferred to the new owner. The group was also granted a medium-term EUR 726 mln loan from Hypo Real Estate and Ca' de Sass for the Milano Santa Giulia project, of which EUR 170 mln have already been used.

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4)

Banks buy EUR 443m assets from Martinsa-Fadesa
Date: 6 January 2009
Category: Company

Martinsa-Fadesa, the Spanish property developer which filed for administration in July, has sold EUR 443 mln worth of property assets to creditor banks BBVA, Banco Santander and savings bank Caixa Galicia, newspaper Expansion reported.

The company, which is offloading real estate in an effort to repay creditors, has sold three housing projects, with 502 residential units, and eight plots of land for a total value of EUR 233 mln to banking giant BBVA. According to Expansion, Santander has purchased 85 buildings and plots for a total value of EUR 186.5 mln, while Caixa Galicia has bought land worth of EUR 24 mln destined to the development of 404 housing units in Pontevedra.

Spanish newspaper El Pais reported on Monday that the company is putting land up for sale at a price 10 times cheaper than its appraised value in December 2007.

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5) AXA acquires European assets for EUR 260m
Date: 5 January 2009
Category: Mixed

AXA Investment Managers Deutschland has expanded the portfolio of its open ended real estate fund AXA Immoselect with the acquisition of three properties and property development companies in Luxembourg, Sweden and Spain. The value of the acquisitions comes to EUR 260 mln, and the finacing has already been secured, AXA IM said in a statement.

The fund management firm purchased the five-storey K-Point building in Luxembourg's Kirchberg suburb for EUR 70 mln. The property offers a rentable area of around 10,000 m2, of which 90% is leased for a fixed term of nine years. AXA also noted that the property has a 15-month guarantee on the value of the retail space on the ground floor.

In Sweden, the fund bought a retail warehouse park project consisting of five buildings with a total area of around 37,000 m² northeast of Malmo. In Spain, AXA IM's fund bought two logistics sites consisting of four buildings. The properties, which offer a total of 137,000 m² of space, are almost completely leased. Three of the buildings were constructed between 1995 and 2001 and are located in the greater Madrid metropolitan area, while the other property is located in Barcelona.

'These investments provide us with a good risk diversification in terms of the tenant industries represented within the fund portfolio, particularly in the logistics sector, which has been significantly expanded by the purchase of these prime-location properties estate', said fund manager Achim Grafen.
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