Aberdeen builds on an established presence in Germany and reinforces its position as a leading property fund manager in the European market, while DEGI finds the right international partner for its continued growth.
Aberdeen Asset Management PLC ("Aberdeen"), the UK-listed global asset manager, today announces that it will acquire DEGI Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immobilienfonds mbH ("DEGI") from Dresdner Bank AG, with the sales agreement having been signed in Frankfurt today.
The acquisition will enhance the position of the property investment division of Aberdeen, Aberdeen Property Investors, as one of Europe’s largest property fund managers, increasing assets under management by € 6.4 billion to approximately € 20 billion. In addition, it will broaden and increase the overall assets that Aberdeen manages on behalf of German clients within equity, fixed income and property portfolios.
The transaction has several benefits for both parties: It will strengthen Aberdeen’s real estate activities in the strategically important German market, with DEGI offering complementary products and expertise to Aberdeen. Additionally, DEGI will be able to draw on Aberdeen’s local presence in property markets around the world and capitalise on the growth potential offered to its international business, as part of the enlarged group. Aberdeen and DEGI will offer a broad and comprehensive product range to clients and will benefit from the higher capabilities of a combined property fund management business.
Rickard Backlund, CEO of Aberdeen Property Investors, said:
"Germany is the largest property fund market in Europe and is a logical step in our expansion plans, reflecting our intention to have a strong local presence in all our key markets. DEGI is a leading provider of open-ended property funds in the German market. Its established position with institutional and private investors and the highly complementary nature of our product ranges and investment regions make DEGI the ideal partner for Aberdeen.”
DEGI will retain both its current management and brand name. In addition to its high quality products and services DEGI strategically plans to expand its product offering together with Aberdeen to include new regions for investment.
Bärbel Schomberg, Speaker of DEGI’s Management Board, commented:
“Our existing client relations and products will not be changed by this transaction and the new owner, DEGI and our clients will benefit from being part of a major, independent, international real estate investment manager able to provide local expertise in markets around the world. The acquisition will also help us build on our position in the German market and expand our investor base internationally.”
Andree Moschner, Member of the Board of Managing Directors of Dresdner Bank, commented:
"Under its new ownership structure, DEGI will become our strategic partner in the real estate asset class. Aberdeen, as a well-established international real estate fund manager, has a strong international network and resources. Our clients therefore profit from the comprehensive know how in the management of property.”
Please note there will be a conference call for journalists at 12:00 (GMT) / 13:00 (CET) which will be hosted by
Bärbel Schomberg, speaker of DEGI’s Management Board
Klaus Rosenfeld , CFO Dresdner Bank AG
Rickard Backlund, CEO of Aberdeen Property Investors
Dr Hartmut Leser, Managing Director Aberdeen Asset Management Germany
Conference Call details
Tel: +44 (0)20 7162 0126
Event title: Aberdeen Property Investors
For further information please contact:
Katrin Gülden
Gülden Communications
T: +49 69 8043 5505
Email: kg@gueldencomms.de
Charlotte Walsh
Maitland
T: +44 207 379 5151
Email: cwalsh@maitland.co.uk
Marc Savani
DEGI
T: +49 69 263 14206
Email: marc.savani@degi.com
Notes to Editors:
Aberdeen Asset Management PLC
Aberdeen Asset Management PLC (Aberdeen) is an international investment management group managing assets principally on behalf of leading national and corporate pension funds, central banks and other financial institutions from its 24 offices located around the world. Aberdeen employs 1,500 staff world-wide in some 19 countries, including investment centres in the three main time zones through London, Philadelphia and Singapore. The Group's areas of activity are principally equities, fixed income and property. Total group assets under management and advice were €144.9 billion (£100.9 billion) as at 31 October 2007. Listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1991, Aberdeen is a FTSE-250 company with a market capitalisation of €1.7 billion.
Aberdeen has been active in the Germany for a number of years and established an office in Frankfurt at the beginning of 2007 when the Group recruited Dr Hartmut Leser from FERI. The seven-strong office caters primarily for institutional clients as well as for distribution partners in the German, Austrian and Swiss markets investing in the Group’s equity, fixed income and property products. During 2007 Aberdeen received inflows of around €1 billion from German clients.
www.aberdeen-asset.com
http://www.aberdeen-asset.com/aam.nsf/deutschland/home
Aberdeen Property Investors
Aberdeen Property Investors is the specialised property division of Aberdeen Asset Management PLC, managing more than €13 billion in property investments as at 31 October 2007 through property funds and management mandates on behalf of our institutional client base. The division has some 500 employees at offices in eleven European countries and in Singapore. Its mission is to facilitate international investment exposure to property by offering a comprehensive range of investment products and services. All supported by a structured investment process and local active management. Our investors can choose from a wide range of investment vehicles and mandates. By 31 October 2007, the division had 13 national and regional funds as well as fund of property funds products open for new investors. Aberdeen Property Investors established an office in Germany in 2005. The eleven-strong team is located in Cologne.
www.aberdeenpropertyinvestors.com
DEGI Deutsche Gesellschaft für Immobilienfonds mbH
At present, DEGI has approx. EUR 6.4 billion in assets under management and has strong roots in the retail business. In recent years, DEGI has expanded its investment scope internationally, thus increasing its competitive advantage. For instance, in 2007 DEGI successfully completed the European re-alignment of the Grundwert-Fonds product by selling two large portfolios. DEGI's product range consists of two open ended funds for retail clients, two open ended funds for institutional clients, one “Immobilienspezialfonds” as well as of two mandates. DEGI employs some 130 staff in Frankfurt and is currently active in the real estate markets of 15 countries around the world.