Cerberus pays $1.18bn for German multifamily units

The New York-based private equity firm will pay as much as €900 million for 22,000 apartments in Germany from bankrupt UK firm Speymill.


Cerberus Capital Management is looking to pay more than $1 billion for 22,000 multifamily units in Germany, according to various media reports. 

Citing the Financial Times Deutschland, Bloomberg is reporting that the New York-based private equity firm will pay as much as €900 million ($1.18 billion) for 22,000 apartments formerly owned by the bankrupt UK firm Speymill. Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall Fund, The Blackstone Group and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing also reportedly had expressed interest in the multifamily units, which are scattered throughout Germany. 

Germany’s Federal Cartel Authority approved the takeover by Cerberus, which is acquiring the units through a joint venture with German real estate management firm Corpus Sireo. Cerberus declined to comment, and calls to Corpus Sireo and Speymill were not returned by press time. 

This transaction is part and parcel of Cerberus’ ongoing strategy of acquiring European real estate. In March 2011, it was reported that the firm bought 45 cash-and-carry properties in Germany, having secured approximately €500 million in financing from a consortium of lenders led by France’s Société Générale and Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen. At the time, Lee Millstein, senior managing director at Cerberus, said in a statement: “European real estate is a key focus for Cerberus.”