Interview: James Bauer, Managing Director, REAG - Five reasons to ...

.......from page 10
ment is facing competition from changes
in the law in other jurisdictions regarding
similar securities, and the rising popularity
of structured securities based on contracts
rather than state law.
As it stands, the only foreign jurisdictions
whose mortgages may be included
in a German-issued Pfandbrief are the
US, Canada and Japan, even though their
share is very small (at the end of 2006, for
example, US-based mortgages on condominiums
made up a total of 0.015%, on
multi-family homes 0.066%, with singlefamily
homes not eligible for inclusion in
Pfandbriefe). The current German limit of
60% of the value of the underlying property
(Beleihungswert) is thought by the VDP to
be too restrictive, and it is looking to increase
this to 80%.
Germany/Asset Management
Pirelli RE joins with HSH
Nordbank in asset management
deal
Germany/Privatisation
Italy’s Anzeige_030506 Pirelli Real Estate 03.05.2006 has set 20:55 up a Uhr Seite 1
partnership with the German bank HSH
GRAF VON WEDEL & SCHULZE OECHTERING IMMOBILIENBERATUNG KG
IS A LOCAL MANAGEMENT PARTNER FOR LARGE INTERNATIONAL INVESTORS
WISHING TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE ATTRACTIVE CURRENT GERMAN
COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MARKET.
SERVICES OFFERED INCLUDE HIGHLY QUALIFIED TECHNICAL
AND BUSINESS PERSONNEL, DUE DILIGENCE, FINANCING, PROJECT
DEVELOPMENT AND SALES. ESTABLISHED CONTACTS EXIST
TO THE IMPORTANT MARKET PARTICIPANTS AS WELL AS A BROAD
KNOWLEDGE OF THIS POTENTIAL MARKET.
OUR GOAL IS TO CONTINUE TO BUILD A STRONG ASSET
MANAGEMENT PORTFOLIO THAT PROVIDES ATTRACTIVE RETURNS
FOR OUR INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS.
CONTACT: CHRISTIAN GRAF VON WEDEL
GRAF VON WEDEL & SCHULZE OECHTERING IMMOBILIENBERATUNG KG
MIERENDORFFSTRASSE 3 D-60320 FRANKFURT GERMANY
TEL.: +49-69-9 59 17 20 FAX: +49-69-95 91 72 40
WWW.WSO-IMMOBILIEN.DE
EMAIL GRAF-VON-WEDEL@WSO-IMMOBILIEN.DE
Nordbank specifically to manage property
assets. The deal involves HSH Nordbank‘s
unit HSH Real Estate AG buying a 20%
stake in Pirelli RE Asset Management
GmbH from Pirelli RE for �€14 million.
Pirelli’s asset management subsidiary
handles the properties acquired in January’s
acquisition of the northern German
group DGAG, as well as the BauBeCon
properties bought from US investor Cerberus
in July of this year (see REFIRE issue
July 25th). The asset management
company aims to build up properties under
management to about �€10 billion, including
but not restricted to its parent company’s
own holdings.
HSH Nordbank director Marc Weinstock
said of his bank’s joint venture step
with Pirelli, “We expect a decent dividend
from our share in the business. We can
certainly expect to learn a lot from Pirelli’s
international expertise and experience in
asset management.”
German Tenants Association
demands more protection
from ‘financial
jugglers’
The International Union
of Tenants’ congress,
held last week in Berlin,
heard the German Tenants
Association demand
greater protection
from ‘financial jugglers’
only interested in the
pursuit of higher returns.
Franz-Georg Rips,
the feisty president of
the Deutscher Mieterbund,
which represents
tenants associations
throughout Germany,
told delegates from 25
countries that housing
is not a tradeable commodity
for profit-hungry
12
speculators, and that consumers cannot
be driven to undertake financial obligations
that they cannot fulfil. “What we are currently
witnessing in irresponsible behaviour
by Anglo-American mortgage banks cannot
be repeated in Germany”, he warned.
Specifically, Mr. Rips demanded that the
increasingly common practice of mortgage
finance banks selling their loan book on
to third parties be outlawed, unless specific
permission has been obtained by the
creditor or mortgage holder. Rips said that
the practice of passing the loan book over,
particularly to international financial providers,
was threatening particularly to creditors
who were often required to extend the
loan payback period, often at new, crippling
interest rates.
“The result is often foreclosure, with the
creditor becoming the plaything of the financial
jugglers. We are strongly against
the abuse of housing as a mere financial
vehicle for speculators”, admonished Mr.
Rips. He urged a more sustainable approach
to housing, in which local housing
authorities held a substantial amount of
social housing for lower earners and had
adequate resources to maintain the housing
to an acceptable standard.
Between 1999 and 2007, a total of 1.7
million apartments in Germany were sold
in large portfolios, of which international
investors bought about half.
Germany/Acquisitions
UK’s Edinburgh House
brings German portfolio to
over �€1 billion
The privately-held British property investor
Edinburgh House added to its German
property portfolio by paying around �€30
million for 14 retail properties in the eastern
German city of Wismar. This brings its total
German holdings to over �€1 billion. The
properties are rented out to well-known
German retail names such as Edeka,
Peek & Cloppenburg, Vodafone and
Reno.
.......see page 15