Bouwfonds IM acquires 17 European car parks for EUR 250 million for an open-ended special property fund

• Car park portfolio located in major cities in Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain
• Properties to be included in Bouwfonds European Real Estate Parking Fund III
• Disposal process managed by Cushman & Wakefield
• Two further institutional car park funds are being prepared

Bouwfonds Investment Management (Bouwfonds IM) is acquiring a European car park portfolio of 17 properties in a share deal for around EUR 250 million. The properties are located in major cities in Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain and are to be included in the open-ended special property fund Bouwfonds European Real Estate Parking Fund III (BEREPF III).

The seller is the special property fund Bouwfonds European Real Estate Parking Fund (BEREPF I), the first investment fund exclusively dedicated to investments in car park real estate that Bouwfonds IM launched in 2005. BEREPF I has held the properties for twelve years and has reached the end of its fund term. The investors in BEREPF l have received an attractive return on their investment in BEREPF I in a challenging period dominated by the financial crisis that started following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Cushman & Wakefield, one of the leading international property advisers, managed a defined competitive disposal process, which attracted significant interest from 48 global capital sources and resulted in 10 formal offers.

Jaap Gillis, CEO Bouwfonds IM says: “We are delighted to be able to continue to manage this portfolio on behalf of one of our successor funds. Portfolios of this size and quality do not come to the market very often.”

Bart Pierik, Managing Director Parking at Bouwfonds IM: “After twelve years of management, we obviously knew the portfolio very well. Due to the complexity of our involvement, we ensured that we adhered to strict compliance principles in order to manage the potential conflicts of interest to ensure a transparent, competitive and fair sale process.”

Seven of the car parks are located in France, of which three in the capital city Paris. Four properties are located in the United Kingdom, of which two in Greater London. Another two are located in the Netherlands and one in Spain. The three German properties are in Gelsenkirchen, Bonn and Passau. Altogether, the portfolio comprises of approximately 10,000 parking spaces. The operators include renowned companies such as Q-Park, Indigo, NCP and Verkehrswacht.

Martin Eberhardt FRICS, Managing Director of Bouwfonds IM Deutschland, says: “Institutional investors’ demand for car park investments remains very high. With the purchase of this portfolio, BEREPF III is now nearly fully invested and entirely placed with institutional investors. We are already working on preparations for further car park funds, which will be launched soon.”

About Bouwfonds Investment Management