Morgan Stanley Real Estate today announced at the MIPIM property conference that it will further expand its investing business in Germany by establishing a regulated real estate investment management company that will offer institutional and retail investors access to core real estate investment products. The Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) has authorised Morgan Stanley to launch a Kapitalanlagegesellschaft (KAG), to be known as Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment GmbH. The KAG will manage investment capital in a variety of funds on behalf of institutional and retail investors in Germany seeking to invest on a global basis.
With this move, Morgan Stanley Real Estate is continuing the strategy it has already successfully used in other countries, which is to broaden the range of its core real estate products organically or through appropriate acquisitions, such as the acquisition of US real estate investment businesses from Lend Lease Corporation in November 2003.
Speaking at the annual MIPIM conference, John Carrafiell, Head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate in Europe, said: "We believe that Germany is one of the most interesting markets in the world. Institutional and private investors invest in real estate here more than in any other country, and have invested around €260 billion in real estate funds to date, an amount comparable to the market capitalisation of all REITs globally."
"In the light of this strong demand, we plan to offer our own core products in Germany in the future. To date, in Germany, we have been active largely as advisors and by acquiring non-performing loans and considerable residential real estate portfolios. Going forward we will pursue a broader strategy in which we continue to invest in the German real estate market and also offer private and institutional investors in Germany the opportunity to invest in global real estate."
"We are planning to launch two new products - (i) a fund for institutional investors - or Spezialfonds - and (ii) an open-end real estate mutual fund for private investors. The institutional fund will be launched soon. The mutual fund is expected by the end of 2005. Morgan Stanley is seeking distribution agreements with German financial institutions, insurance companies and fund distributors", said Carrafiell.
The mutual fund will invest globally and the institutional fund will focus on the Asian-Pacific markets. "Morgan Stanley has 120 dedicated real estate professionals based in Asia and the KAG can rely on this strong team", said Carrafiell. Only recently, Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds acquired the headquarters of Mitsubishi Motors in Tokyo for approximately US$1.3 billion.
"Currently, we are seeing a paradigm shift with the open-end real estate funds in Germany. While a couple of years ago many funds invested only or predominantly in Germany, today they increasingly make use of the enhanced investment possibilities abroad", said Carrafiell.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate has a global presence, with 450 employees in 12 countries. In addition, the company can rely on a global network of Morgan Stanley offices in 28 countries. In 2004, the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds, together with DIC Deutsche Immobilien Chancen, acquired a portfolio of 57 assets from the Frankfurter Sparkasse. In addition, the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds and their partner, Corpus Immobiliengruppe, acquired ThyssenKrupp Wohnimmobilien GmbH, representing approximately 48,000 apartments. The purchase price was approximately €2.1 billion. Morgan Stanley is also active in the non-performing loans market in Germany, with the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds currently closing the acquisition of a real estate loan portfolio from Hypo Real Estate Group with a volume of approximately €394 million.
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Morgan Stanley Real Estate is comprised of three major global businesses: Investment and Asset Management, Banking, and Real Estate Mortgage Lending and Securitization. Since 1991, Morgan Stanley has acquired more than $52 billion of real estate assets worldwide and currently manages $29.3 billion in real estate assets on behalf of its clients. Using its own capital, Morgan Stanley also originates upwards of $7 billion in commercial mortgages annually. In addition, Morgan Stanley Real Estate provides a complete range of investment banking services including merger, acquisition and restructuring advisory and recapitalizations, as well as public and private debt and equity financing. Morgan Stanley established its real estate organization in 1969.
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, investment management and credit services. With more than 600 offices in 28 countries, Morgan Stanley connects people, ideas and capital to help clients achieve their financial aspirations.