Accelerate dips toes into European property market with €82m deal

24th October 2016 By: Megan van Wyngaardt - Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

Accelerate Property Fund will acquire a portfolio of nine well-located retail warehouse properties tenanted by Germany-based do-it-yourself retailer OBI for €82.1-million.

The deal for the properties – six in Austria and three in Slovakia – would be carried out in a blended acquisition yield of 7% based on contractual rentals.

The acquisition forms part of Accelerate’s plan to invest in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), leading to the creation of Accelerate Europe, domiciled in the Netherlands, which will be a separately listed entity.

The company has, to date, completed in excess of €2.5-billion in property transactions across CEE.

“Austria and Slovakia are attractive investment destinations for Accelerate owing to a range of positive underlying fundamentals,” the company said in a statement.

Austria has one of the highest gross domestic product per capita figures in Europe, with above-average growth forecasts and low political risk. Slovakia is one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe with rising real wage growth, rising disposable income, strong domestic private consumption and strong manufacturing and industrial activity.

The transaction is subject to a number of approvals.