DB REAL ESTATE is looking to sell a development site in the City of London in an attempt to inject capital into its €5.9 billion (£4 billion) Grundbesitz-Invest real estate fund, which was frozen last month.
The impending sale of Ropemaker Place, for £100 million, is the first time that the problems engulfing the fund have hit Britain.
It is understood that DB Real Estate has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle, the commercial real estate agent, to sell the 500,000 sq ft development site. Helical Bar, the listed property company run by Mike Slade, is the development manager for the project.
The fund was frozen to prevent further withdrawals after fears grew that properties in the fund may be overvalued. Worried investors tried to cash in their shares, which threatened the liquidity requirements of the fund, triggering its closure.
It is believed that Jones Lang LaSalle separately has been instructed to sell a €1 billion portfolio of properties, most of which are in Germany, for the fund.
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Tim Oliver Ambrosius, spokesman for DB Real Estate, declined to comment, but this month he was reported as saying that the company was “taking all necessary steps for the relaunch of the fund”. Jones Lang LaSalle declined to comment.
The fund has been hit by significant net outflows of capital over the past two years. Private investors have been frustrated by the problems, despite assurances by Josef Ackermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank, that those who have invested in the past two years will receive “fair compensation”.