UK / Netherlands, 27 March 2019 – Round Hill Capital, a leading real estate investment, development and asset management firm, announces that parties advised by Round Hill Capital have exchanged contracts to sell the shares of a residential property portfolio in the Netherlands to Heimstaden AB for a total purchase price of €1.39 billion.

The portfolio consists of 536 assets with a total of 12,300 lettable units comprised of 9,544 residential units, 77 commercial units, 2,112 parking spaces and 567 other units, such as storage.

In 2014, Round Hill Capital established its residential investment and asset management platform in the Netherlands and parties advised by Round Hill Capital were the first international investors to build a substantial portfolio of Dutch residential real estate assets following the Global Financial Crisis. Through multiple portfolio acquisitions and subsequent capital investment, Round Hill Capital has significantly enhanced the quality of the underlying assets and consolidated them into a single in-house management platform. As a result, both the efficiency and performance of the portfolio have improved for tenants and investors alike.

With established expertise and capabilities in the Netherlands, Round Hill Capital will continue to focus on making further investments in residential property in the Dutch market and across Europe.

Round Hill Capital was advised by Kempen and Loyens & Loeff on the transaction.

Heimstaden was advised by Houthoff (legal), Sweco (technical), Immo Finance (financial), JP Morgan (financial) and Capital Value (commercial) on the transaction.

Commenting on the acquisitions, Michael Bickford, founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital, said:
“This sale is in line with Round Hill Capital’s strategy of investing in high quality portfolios and improving the value of the underlying assets by optimising their operational performance. Round Hill Capital’s proven track record and our professional, hands-on residential property management expertise ensures that our tenants benefit from our focus and operational expertise.

Round Hill Capital remains committed to investing in, developing and managing residential property in the Netherlands in a responsible manner, and we look forward to expanding our presence in the Netherlands and across Europe.”

Christian Fladeland, CIO of Heimstaden, said:
“The Netherlands has been an obvious market for us to enter for some time and following our first acquisition in October 2018, we have been dedicated to sourcing new potential acquisitions. This portfolio offers a unique position for us to obtain significant exposure to a highly favourable residential market with strong macroeconomic fundamentals and significant nationwide undersupply of residential units.

Heimstaden will, through its extensive experience from the Nordics, with full-service in-house asset and property management expertise, focus on upgrading the portfolio with an ambitious sustainability investment scheme as well as general modernisation plans, while still targeting mid-market and affordable rent levels.”

Patrik Hall, CEO of Heimstaden, commented:
“This acquisition is an obvious opportunity for Heimstaden to establish a significant footprint in a market with strong fundamentals, which have been on radar for some time now, with benefits of operational economy of scale from day one.”


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