The DIC Group is one of the leading investors in the German market for commercial real estate

Press Release

DIC buys MEAG portfolio with MSREF

Frankfurt, 21.12.2005

The Frankfurt-based DIC real estate group and the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund (MSREF) have jointly acquired a real estate portfolio of 45 properties in the west of Germany from MEAG, each taking a fifty per cent stake. The investment amount is in the low hundred million euros. The transaction is being financed by Berlin Hyp. The real estate consultancy group Atis Real, Frankfurt, acted as advisers to MEAG for the deal.

The property portfolio is made up of buildings with total floor space of around 155,000 m2 in very good central urban locations, mainly in secondary cities. Office space represents around 50 per cent of the total, with a further 35 per cent in use as retail branch stores; around 25 per cent is currently vacant.
DIC will be managing the portfolio on a pro-active basis. DIC's CEO, Ulrich Höller, commented, "This transaction is a further important step in our growth-oriented corporate strategy. In this portfolio we see long-term potential for adding value, which our real estate expertise will enable us to realize. The transaction brings the total value of properties managed by the DIC group to over one billion euros for the first time."  

With the sale of these properties, MEAG continues to pursue its strategy of disposing of directly held properties in Germany, in order to diversify both regionally and globally. The focus for new investments is on first-class properties, mainly in major European cities. On a case-by-case basis, MEAG is also acquiring properties in Asia and the USA to complement the portfolio. MEAG's CEO, Dr. Knut Riesmeier stated, "Our aim is and will continue to be to generate earnings from real estate which are largely predictable and calculable. Reducing the high proportion of German properties is an important component in diversification towards an international portfolio."

About DIC Asset AG
DIC (Deutsche Immobilien Chancen) was founded in Frankfurt in 1998 and, with its innovative investment philosophy and its focus on the German market, is one of the most prominent and successful firms in Germany specializing in commercial real estate transactions. Its business activities include portfolio and asset management, project development and opportunistic investments. The real estate assets managed by the DIC real estate group currently amount to over EUR 1 billion. Its shareholders are investment companies (such as Thurn & Taxis), institutional investors (such as Morgan Stanley) and private investors with a family background in industry.

About MEAG
MEAG MUNICH ERGO AssetManagement GmbH, Munich, is the asset management company of the reinsurance company Munich Re and the insurance group ERGO Versicherungsgruppe. MEAG operates internationally, with offices in New York and Hong Kong, and in addition to managing the group's own assets also works with partners outside the Munich Re group. MEAG currently manages assets worth approximately EUR 160 billion, around EUR 11 billion of which is real estate.

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