Although the economic activity continues to weaken at a global scale, 2019 had a fruitful year for some of the major real estate investment companies. This year did not miss some major deals and we would like to talk about some of the most important ones.

ECE Group Buys Stake in Ruby Hotel Group

One of the most recent news comes from ECE Group, a major real estate company owned by the Otto family. Based on the latest highlights, it seems a new 25% stake in the Ruby Hotel group had been acquired. Founded in 2013, Ruby Hotels is a lean luxury hotel group currently operating 7 Ruby hotels. Although the purchase price had not been disclosed, Alexander Otto, the current CEO of ECE Group, spoke about the latest deal:

“As of today, ECE Group already is among the three largest hotel developers in the DACH region. By getting access to the operational expertise of Ruby hotels and combining it with our existing competencies in developing hotels, we will gain an excellent position to further strengthen our hotel investment activities.”

Chancerygate Gets Permission for 12-Unit Business Park

Another important real estate development comes from the English town Chertsey, where Changerygate had recently the permission to build a new 12-unit business part. The Chertsey Business Park will total 62,324ft² and will be located within the town's Hanworth Lane Industrial Estate. The 2.1-acre site had been purchased in August and the actual construction process should begin somewhere towards the end of 2019. Matthew Young, development manager at Chancerygate said:

“Chertsey Business Park is located in the town’s most central industrial area. It is exactly the type of strategic regional location that we seek to develop to meet an area’s business needs. Runnymede Borough Council understands the benefits that developing a site of this size brings in terms of both new business and jobs…”

According to europe-re.com, the first units of the construction will be available for occupation at the end of 2020.

Aspen Group sells an office building in Stuttgart

The European continent had seen of the major real estate deals this year, with Aspen Group, a company controlled by Ronnie Tsarum, signing an agreement to sell an office building in Stuttgart, Germany, during the summer. The selling price was 48 million euros, with Aspen Group holding 30% of the property company, while the remaining 30% held by Shlomo Insurance Company.

Ofir Eyal Bar, a partner of Aspen Group, spoke optimistically about the deal, one of the most important made by the company in Germany. The transaction is estimated to have generated 8 million euros in profit before tax and free cash of about 18 million euros.

This was the second major deal for Aspen Group in July when it also managed to complete the sale of a logistics center from the global fashion chain Timberland, in the city of Almelo, The Netherlands.

Tristan Fund Acquires Bristol Prime Office Development

Our last real estate major deal is also located in the UK, where Tristan Capital Partners had completed the acquisition of a 1.3-acre site in the center of Bristol City. Based on the information available online, the site will be used for the building of a new Grade A office center. The construction will comprise approx. 210,000ft² net internal area, over basement, ground, and seven upper floors.

The construction process is set to begin around mid-2020 and should be finalized by mid-2022, based on the actual estimates. Nicko Jenkins, the Director of Tristan Capital Partners, spoke the project and about EPISO 5, the company’s real estate opportunity fund:

“This development provides EPISO 5 with an opportunity to deliver a state-of-the-art Grade A office building in the established new business district of Temple Quay in Bristol’s city center. The project fits our strategy to develop offices in low- vacancy, supply-constrained markets in the UK."