A portfolio of 16 retail properties in Germany was acquired by the joint efforts of Prudential Real Estate Investors and Qatar's leading investment bank, QInvest.

"The acquisition provides investors with access to long-term income returns through strong underlying leases with major German retailers in proven, diversified, regional markets," said Sebastiano Ferrante, head of Prudential Real Estate Investors in Germany. "We are pleased to partner with QInvest to capitalize on the attractive fundamentals of the German economy and the overall retail investment market."

According to the press release in Business Wire, the partnership acquired 16 multi-tenant assets that comprises more than 140,000 square meters across 57 units in western Germany with tenants that include some of the major retailers in Germany.

"The transaction provides us with higher yielding exposure with value add upside secured by defensive assets in one of the more robust EU economies," said Craig Cowie, head of real estate at QInvest. "We intend offering equity to our shareholders and clients as part of our on-going initiative to offer value added returns to all stakeholders."

In an article from the newsroom of Prudential Real Estate Investors, PREI wrote that the acquisition is part of the execution of its strategy to capitalize the strong performance of basic market needs such as groceries and home improvement-anchored schemes in all of Europe. At present, Prudential Real Estate Investors manages a total of €700 million of retail assets in Germany on behalf of its investors.
The real estate unit of QInvest on the other hand, opportunistically invests in both junior financing and equity for assets in the United States, Western Europe and the United Kingdom.

Prudential Real Estate Investors, also operates as Pramerica Real Estate Investors in markets outside of the Americas, Korea and Japan, and is the real estate management and advisory unit of Prudential Financial, Inc.