DEGI, part of Aberdeen Property Investors, has recently sold a retail property belonging to the portfolio of its DEGI EUROPA open-end property fund.

The property is located at Am Brand in Mainz/Germany, and was sold to Aachener Grundvermögen Kapitalanlage GmbH seated in Cologne.

Having acquired it as Quelle Haus in 1973, DEGI modernised the property thoroughly as a development between 2005 and 2007. The property is fully let, with tenants including Saturn, Zara, and Esprit.


Notwithstanding the difficult environment, DEGI successfully placed the property on the market in line with the strategy the company devised in conjunction with its ongoing repositioning drive. For the buyer, the acquisition represents a plausible addition to the existing portfolio. After all, Aachener Grundvermögen had bought up the majority of the retail floor space at the Dom-Rathaus-Zentrum mall in Mainz in mid-2008. The purchase price for the building at Am Brand – situated in a prime downtown location of the state capital of Rhineland-Palatinate - matches its market value.

As Bärbel Schomberg, DEGI’s CEO, elaborated, being able to sell at market value showcases the high quality of the company’s real estate as well as the fact that its valuations reflect market standards.

"Our fund managers will deploy any instrument that is suited to optimise profits, including specifically an active portfolio management strategy," Schomberg said.

(GK/JM)