Commerz Real lands the largest deal in its history

Commerz Real AG acquired the Millennium portfolio from Generali Lebensversicherung AG for its open-ended real estate fund Hausinvest in September 2019 at approximately EUR 2.5bn. The deal was described by Commerz Real as the largest in its history and is also considered to be the largest in Germany in the last ten years. 

A CMS team led by Frankfurt-based Real Estate partner Heinrich Schirmer advised Commerz Real. “Our experience with large portfolio deals, as well as our use of software tools for contract analysis, were some of the reasons why Commerz Real chose us. We were able to successfully apply our skills in this highly competitive sales process under enormous time pressure.” 

Dr Andreas Muschter, CEO of Commerz Real, commented, “I seldom felt as well advised on a transaction as with Heinrich Schirmer and his team. In addition, it was really fun working with them.”

The Millennium portfolio consists of a core of 49 office, residential and retail properties with a total rental area of over 352,000 m2 across various German cities including Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart. 

Henning Koch, Global Head of Transactions and now a member of the board at Commerz Real, said, “The portfolio is perfectly geared to our investment strategy of increasing the share of German properties in the fund, and in doing so, achieving the best possible mix of all usage types.” Earlier in 2019, Commerz Real stated that Hausinvest had a goal of investing around EUR 2bn in the residential sector over the next five years. 

Commerz Real is part of the Commerzbank Group and has EUR 34bn of assets under management. It focuses on tangible assets such as real estate, solar parks, ships, power grids and production plants.