Schroders is today announcing the acquisition of Blue Asset Management (Blue) a German real estate business based in Munich. Established in 2009 by the three founding managing directors Dr Artus Pourroy, Dr Thomas Wiegelmann and Tino Lurtsch, Blue manages €1.2 billion of assets on behalf of its clients across, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
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The deal reinforces Schroders’ private assets capabilities, providing significant additional resource, presence and expertise in the German, Swiss and Austrian real estate markets to serve the company’s global investor base. The Blue portfolio consists of real estate investments across commercial and residential real estate properties. The three founding managing directors and their 17 employees will join Schroder Real Estate.
Duncan Owen, Global Head of Schroder Real Estate commented:
“This acquisition provides us with a strong team of real estate professionals and an additional office in Germany (Munich), which is the largest real estate investment market in continental Europe. The strengthened footprint across Germany, Austria and Switzerland will complement our existing teams across Europe and our wider global real estate platform. This expanded team will help us support the active management of new investments and existing funds for clients.”
“The fundamental investment principles and value-add style of Blue, as well as our similar cultures, are central to why Schroders has acquired this business. It will be a good fit for all of our clients.”
There will be no changes with regard to the management of the existing clients of Blue and they will continue to be served by the Blue management team. On joining Schroders, the team will have access to the broader investment capabilities and distribution network of the wider Schroders business.
Dr Artus Pourroy, Managing Director of Blue Asset Management commented:
“We are excited about joining Schroders and its Real Estate business. We have very similar cultures, particularly our focus on outstanding client service and delivering a strong investment track record.”
“Not only does Schroders have a broad based global real estate investment team, we also now have access to the wider Schroders group capabilities which I believe will enable us to significantly enhance our client proposition.”
Philipp Ellebracht, Co-Head of Schroder Real Estate Germany, commented:
“We are delighted to enhance our team and our real estate presence in Germany with this latest acquisition. With a new office in Munich we can now leverage the broader German speaking investment markets. With €4 billion of assets under management on behalf of our clients and a team of over 40 people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, we are well positioned to continue to grow our platform.”
This acquisition is a further significant step in growing our private assets business which remains a key strategic priority for the firm. This capability includes securitised credit, private equity, infrastructure finance, insurance-linked securities and SME lending alongside the Real Estate business which is the largest component with assets of over €17 billion (as at 31 December 2018).
Source: Schroders
