Patrizia sells Astro Tower in Brussels on behalf of Korean LPs

Patrizia AG, a Germany-based global leading real estate investment firm, said on Dec. 13 it has sold the shares of the company owning Brussels’ first green office building Astro Tower on behalf of AIP Management Co., Patrizia’s single-mandate South Korean client. Hamburg-based Union Investment GmbH, the investment arm of German DZ Bank Group, purchased the building through its UniInstitutional European Real Estate fund.

AIP Asset Management acquired the asset in 2016 after receiving commitments from three Korean limited partners including Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS), non-bank financial holding company Korea Investment Holdings Co. (KIH) and an unknown institutional investor.

Although the office building is a core asset, it has successfully recorded a mid-teen percentage internal rate of return, The Korea Economic Daily understood. The selling price is not disclosed under the two parties’ agreement. 

The 30-story, 107-meter-high Astro Tower has been part of Brussels’s skyline since it was built in 1976. The building was the first in Brussels to achieve the highest possible energy performance certification, after its refurbishment from 2015 to 2016. Located in a central business district, the building is currently leased to Brussels’ public employment agency Actiris. 

Patrizia manages €48 billion ($54.2 billion) in assets. In December 2017, Korea's Shinhan Alternative Investment Management Inc. committed €200 million to the German firm's multifamily housing fund Patrizia Living Cities Residential Fund. In December 2019, Korea's Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA), Patrizia and Danish pension fund PFA co-invested 800 billion won to acquire a logistics portfolio of $1.3 billion in Europe. 

With $4.1 billion in assets under management, AIP Asset Management is focusing on assets in Europe and the US. In 2018, the Korean asset manager acquired the Novo Nordisk office in Copenhagen from Danish financial company Nordea Group for around €160 million. 

In June 2019, AIP Asset Management and London-based Valesco Group teamed up and bought the Twin City Tower in Bratislava, Slovakia for €120 million with participation from Mirae Asset Daewoo Co. and NH Investment & Securities Co. In December 2019, AIP Asset Management, Korean asset manager JR AMC Co. and brokerage firm Meritz Securities Co. formed a consortium and bought Brussel’s Finance Tower for €1.4 billion.

Write to Chang-Jae Yoo at yoocool@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.