Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek advises real estate investor Gold Tree on the acquisition of SKY group headquarters in Unterföhring

Commerz Real AG sold the group headquarters of SKY Deutschland AG in Unterföhring near Munich to a special purpose vehicle of Swiss real estate investor Gold Tree for EUR 50 million. The building had been constructed by Commerz Real AG on a leasehold basis.

As part of the transaction, Frankfurt-based Continuum Capital restructured the existing hereditary building right agreement jointly with Gold Tree and offered the property on which the hereditary building right is located to a German pension fund on the basis of a redrafted contract with a 99-year term and further extension options in parallel to the aforementioned transaction. The amount of this partial transaction was not disclosed.

For the seller, Commerz Real AG, the transaction represents the successful conclusion of the project development that started in 2008. Commerz Real AG had won the investor competition for the headquarters of SKY Deutschland AG, housing about 1100 employees, convincing above all with the architectural draft and economic efficiency of the building. The property was handed over to the tenant, SKY Deutschland AG, in May 2010 after a 6-month planning phase and a construction period lasting 21 months. Commerz Real AG accompanied the project development in all phases of the project with an interdisciplinary team of experts and internal construction management services, ranging from planning, through financing, to the actual construction.

Gold Tree Group is an international investor, headquartered in Zurich, which invests mainly in commercial real estate in Germany and Switzerland. For Gold Tree Group, this transaction serves as the further expansion of the German portfolio, whose investment strategy is based on stable yields by anchor tenants such as Sky Deutschland AG.

Counsel to Gold Tree Group
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, Frankfurt:
Dr. Christoph Wetzler (Lead / Finance, Corporate)

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Düsseldorf:
Annette Pospich (Lead / Real Estate)

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Frankfurt:
Sabine Wieduwilt
Sarah Rössing
Cihangir Agdemir (all Real Estate)