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Press Release

GEG acquires the Japan Center in Frankfurt from Commerz Real

Frankfurt, 20.12.2017

GEG German Estate Group AG, Frankfurt am Main, has just signed a contract of sale with Commerz Real for the architectural icon in the best location of Frankfurt's banking district: the Japan Center (Taunustor 2) with a total of some 29,000 square metres of leasable space; the closing is expected to take place at the beginning of 2018. The total investment volume amounts to approx. 280 million euros.

With its far-eastern architecture the 115-metre-high landmark property at Frankfurt’s Taunustor is a striking feature on Frankfurt’s skyline. The terracotta- coloured cladding of natural stone with its rigid geometrical shapes is a contemporary interpretation of classical Japanese design. The overall dimensions of the façade – based on the Japanese tatami mat – and the cantilevered roof of the building are reminiscent of the profile of a Japanese stone lantern.

The Japan Center was built in 1996 to plans by the Berlin-based architect Joachim Ganz. It has 28 storeys and 115 underground parking spaces. It is leased in full in the long term. The high-rise building has been technically modernised in the past 15 months, today it is characterized by flexible areas. Commerz Real had acquired the building in 2002 for its open-ended real estate fund hausInvest.

BNP Paribas Real Estate, Noerr LLP, SammlerUsinger and CBRE PREUSS VALTEQ provided consulting services for the transaction.

Ulrich Höller, CEO of GEG: “With the acquisition of the Japan Center we are supplementing our real estate portfolio in the heart of Frankfurt with an additional architectural icon. Thus we are represented in Frankfurt’s central banking district with a significant number of developments and investments, and we intend to benefit from their positive development.”

Andreas Muschter, Chairman of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerz Real: “We are in the process of optimising our portfolio from a strategic stance, and have utilised the strong demand for premium properties in 1A locations to attain a very good result for our investors. We have fulfilled the prerequisites for achieving this added value in the past 18 months with the repositioning of the property and a complete change in the tenant mix through to full occupation.”

Commerz Real AG
Commerz Real is a subsidiary of Commerzbank AG with more than 45 years of market experience and approximately 32 billion euros in assets under management. The company combines comprehensive know-how in asset management and a broad-based structuring expertise to deliver its signature range of services of fund products focused on tangibles and bespoke financing solutions. The fund spectrum includes the open-ended real estate fund hausInvest, institutional investment products as well as entrepreneurial participations in real estate, aircraft, regenerative energy and ships. In its role as leasing company of Commerzbank Group, Commerz Real offers tailored equipment leasing concepts along with bespoke financing arrangements for assets such as real estate, big¬ticket equipment and infrastructure projects. www.commerzreal.com

Press contact
Gerd Johannsen, +49 611 7105-4279, gerd.johannsen@commerzreal.com

About GEG German Estate Group AG
GEG German Estate Group AG, based in Frankfurt, is one of Germany’s leading investment and asset management platforms in the commercial real estate sector. Its investment focus and investment policy is focused on three segments: institutional business, opportunistic investments and project developments. In the framework of this clearly-defined strategy GEG has consistently utilised the opportunities since its foundation in 2015, developing an extensive, diversified real estate portfolio with approx. 2.3 billion euros in assets under management. Among these rank outstanding landmark properties such as the IBC Campus and the luxury hotel Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt, the Sapporobogen office building in Munich, and project developments such as the MainTor urban quarter and the Global Tower in Frankfurt, the Opera Offices in Hamburg and the Junges Quartier Obersendling complex in Munich. The long track record and the outstanding reputation of the management together with the highly-qualified and experienced team form the foundation for a leading market position. The two shareholders in GEG German Estate Group AG are the Frankfurt-based Deutsche Immobilien Chancen-Gruppe and the leading global investment company KKR Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts, which invests in asset classes such as private equity, infrastructure and real estate. The Chief Executive Officer of GEG is Ulrich Höller.
Further information on GEG is to be found under www.geg.de

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