Schroders acquires €1.2bn real estate business

Schroders has announced 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 more than €1.2bn of assets on behalf of clients across, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The deal takes Schroders real estate assets under management up to €4bn and its' real estate team over 40 people in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
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 said: "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 fundamental investment principles and value-add style of Blue, as well as our similar cultures, are central to why Schroders has acquired this business."
Broader
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.
Philipp Ellebracht, co-head of Schroder real estate Germany, added: "With a new office in Munich we can now leverage the broader German speaking investment markets. With €4bn 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.
Private assets
"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)."
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