Madison and Redos will work with Muenster-based project developer HLG to continue the repositioning of the assets. The focus will be on the properties in Eiche, where construction is nearing completion to modernize the 22-year-old center, and Dallgow, near Berlin, as well as the center in Dresden.

The portfolio is currently 90% leased, with the majority of tenants on long-term leases. Nearly a third of the total space is occupied by Kaufland, which serves as anchor tenant at all four of the properties.

Principal legal advisors on the transaction were Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for Madison and Latham & Watkins for the seller.

FRANKFURT—Madison International Realty and Hamburg-based asset manager Redos Real Estate have entered a joint venture on the Christie Portfolio, four shopping center properties totaling two million square feet in key eastern German markets. Deal terms were not disclosed.

“This portfolio fits Madison's strategy of buying established prime assets with good in-place cash flow as well as embedded value enhancement opportunities that will be driven by investments in targeted, on-site initiatives that optimize the tenancy in existing high-volume centers,” says Matthias Cordier, director of Madison in Frankfurt. “Additionally, the properties are located in strong submarkets and each center has the dominant competitive position in its local area.” The properties are located throughout greater Berlin and Dresden.

Published reports say that Redos and a Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing fund JVed on the portfolio in February 2014. Although deal terms similarly were not disclosed for the MSREI/Redos transaction, it was believed to be worth around €400 million, or about US$418 million at today's exchange rate.

“Madison has assembled financial partners that include some of the world's preeminent institutional investors who are attracted to Germany's positive demographic trends and real estate fundamentals, the portfolio's strong tenant quality and remaining value-add opportunities,” Cordier says. The JV plans to continue a program of “enhancement and de-risking” begun by the portfolio's former ownership.

Madison and Redos will work with Muenster-based project developer HLG to continue the repositioning of the assets. The focus will be on the properties in Eiche, where construction is nearing completion to modernize the 22-year-old center, and Dallgow, near Berlin, as well as the center in Dresden.

The portfolio is currently 90% leased, with the majority of tenants on long-term leases. Nearly a third of the total space is occupied by Kaufland, which serves as anchor tenant at all four of the properties.

Principal legal advisors on the transaction were Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for Madison and Latham & Watkins for the seller.