Corestate hits almost €1bn of deals, expands focus

Zug-based specialist real estate firm Corestate Capital says its 2013 deal-by-deal approach saw the firm clock up a 1.6 average equity multiple and 32 percent IRR as it looks to ex-Germany markets.

Corestate Capital, the Zug-based private equity firm, has set its stall out to invest in an “anti-cyclical” manner in Europe and expand its club-style deals from purely opportunistic to core plus and value add investments.

The company that was started by Ralph Winter in 2006 has moved away from the traditional fund format and is concentrating on a deal-by-deal approach mainly in Germany.

Thomas Landschreiber, chief operating officer, said investors valued its “transparent deal-by-deal approach and exit-driven business model”. He added: “We focus on creating value in real estate as opposed to passive buy-and-hold strategies. In addition to our well known opportunistic strategy we will complement it with core plus and value add investments this year.”

Explaining the company’s expansion plans further, Landschreiber said: “Besides our recent activities in Central Europe, we will also target anti-cyclical investments across the continent. Stressed markets such as Spain or the Netherlands show an increasing number of investment opportunities at measurable risk. Still, with interest rates at an all-time low, Germany continues to offer an extremely good environment rarely found elsewhere in Europe.”

In a statement, the company with 150 staff said in 2013 it clocked up nearly €1 billion of deals. Transactions involved acquiring different portfolios of €460 million and exits for €481 million. Investors that participated in those club deals enjoyed an overall result of average equity multiple of 1.6 and an IRR of 32 percent.

The company has its headquarters in Switzerland and partner offices in Frankfurt, Essen, London, Singapore and Luxembourg.