BVK acquires £80m Finnish resi portfolio

Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) has acquired a prime residential portfolio in Finland for €80 million.

The portfolio comprises seven residential assets in Helsinki including 356 apartments totaling 202,157 square feet.

German pension fund manager BVK acquired the assets from Finnish real estate fund Tapiola KR IV. Finnish private equity fund manager CapMan Real Estate advised BVK on the transaction and will also manage the portfolio.

Mika Matikainen, head of CapMan real estate, said: “This commitment demonstrates the strength and high regard of our team in the Nordic real estate market. As advisors, we are able to leverage our expertise and networks while utilizing value-added strategies that we have successfully implemented in our own funds over the years.”

The Berlin-based firm is Germany’s largest public pension fund with €62 billion assets under management, managed on behalf of 2 million pensioners.

It has been particularly acquisitive of late. For example, in February this year, the firm teamed up with the European arm of Houston-based developer-cum-fund manager Hines to launch a €1.3 billion separate account program to invest in European high street retail.

BVK hit the news in October again last year when it invested €250 million in Asian Pacific real estate through Alpha Investment Partners, the real estate investment management business of Singapore property company Keppel Land. CBRE Global Investment Partners, the joint venture platform of Los Angeles-based CBRE Global Investors, and Hong Kong-based Arch Capital also received €250 million and €200 million in equity, respectively, for a range of Asian risk and return strategies.

CapMan’s most recent value-add fund, CapMan Nordic Real Estate, closed at €273 million in April last year. It was the firm’s first pan-Nordic vehicle and two thirds of the capital came from Finnish investors. The target, set in 2013, was €250 million.

BVK were unavailable for comment at press time.