Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Deutsche Bank, Pirelli Re Agree to Buy Cerberus Apartments Unit (Update2)

By Elisa Martinuzzi and Aaron Kirchfeld

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG and Pirelli & C. Real Estate SpA agreed to buy more than 27,000 German apartments from Cerberus Capital Management LP for 350 million euros ($482 million).

RREEF, a unit of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank, will purchase 60 percent of the properties from Cerberus' Baubecon GmbH unit and Pirelli Re will acquire the rest. The total value of the transaction including debt is about 1.7 billion euros, Milan-based Pirelli Re said today in a statement.

RREEF, the world's largest real estate asset manager, and Pirelli Re teamed up last month to buy 29 properties in Italy. The acquisition of Baubecon will increase the value of Pirelli Re's assets under management in Germany to 3 billion euros, or a quarter of the total. Cerberus, a New York-based private-equity firm, bought Baubecon from the country's labor unions in 2005.

``This transaction will also help to accelerate the development of Pirelli Re's asset management activities and specialized services in Germany,'' Chief Executive Officer Carlo Puri Negri said in the statement.

Shares of Pirelli Re fell 36 cents, or 0.8 percent, to 42.70 euros at 1:33 p.m. in Milan. Deutsche Bank's stock declined 45 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 107.78 euros in Frankfurt.

Deutsche Bank and Pirelli Re are acquiring homes in German cities including Berlin and Hanover with an average vacancy rate of 8 percent, the Italian company said. The percentage of empty properties will decline to 5 percent, Pirelli Re forecast.

As part of the deal, Pirelli Re will purchase all of the Baubecon unit that manages about 52,000 apartments, according to today's statement.

The transaction, which has been approved by antitrust authorities, will probably be completed by the end of July, Pirelli Re said.

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