The winner was announced during a gala dinner and awards ceremony in Banqueting House in London on Wednesday evening, attended by a select group of Europe's leading property professionals. Prizes were also awarded to the winners of the 10 award categories, who were announced earlier (see list below).

Patrizia won the overall award for its acquisition in 2012 of the giant LBBW housing portfolio in Germany for €1.4 bn, the biggest property deal in Europe that year. The German company also claimed the top prize in the residential category of PropertyEU's Deal of the Decade competition.

In that deal, Patrizia led a consortium of 13 international institutional investors to acquire LBBW Immobilien and its 21,000 residential units in Germany from Landesbank Baden-Württemberg for €1.4 bn. Allen & Overy advised the buyer, while Leonardo & Co and Hengeler Müller acted for the seller.

Jury comment
The judges said the transaction, the largest property deal in Europe in 2012, was the first-ever club deal of German and international institutional investors which aligned the regulatory, tax and governance requirements of different parties and countries. The club of 13 co-investors comprised mainly insurance companies, pension funds and savings banks from Germany, Switzerland and Sweden.

Patrizia won a very competitive bidding process and then implemented an ambitious business plan which led to improved operations, rental growth and a reduction in financing costs. The LBBW transaction was the first of its kind in terms of magnitude and complexity after the financial crisis.

‘A very effective deal given its size and proven return to investors of 25%,’ the jury said. It described the transaction as a ‘very historical deal in a very strong market which pushed the existing boundaries’. In 2015 Patrizia sold the portfolio to listed peer Vonovia for €1.9 bn. The investment generated a (net) IRR of more than 25% for the investors in the club.

In its motivation for submitting the LBBW deal, Patrizia said the positive outcome was the result of ‘bringing in the right management team, strongly focused on improving the properties and operations and maximising the exit value at the peak of the market through a sale to Vonovia.’

10 award categories
PropertyEU’s Deal of the Decade competition encompassed 10 award categories. Following an overwhelming response, the editorial team selected 10 candidates per category and submitted these to an expert jury, who then picked three finalists. Together these 10 candidates form the most innovative and groundbreaking deals that have taken place between 2006 - the year in which PropertyEU was founded – and 2016. The three finalists per category were then put to a public vote to select the overall winner.

Office Category:

• HSBC/HSBC HQ (winner)
• Victory Advisors/The Atrium
• AXA IMRA/6 St Pancras Square

Retail Category:

• NBIM/25% Regent Street, London (winner)
• AXA/Unibail-Rodamco, Ruhr Park, Germany
• MSREF VII/Metropolis Shopping Center, Moscow

Logistics Category:

• Prologis/NBIM (winner)
• Curve Portfolio, pan-European
• Green Mountain Logistics Park, Schiphol

Residential Category:

• Patrizia/LBBW Immobilien (winner)
• Eindhoven Lighting/Bouwfonds
• CPPIB/Liberty Living

Portfolio Category:

• Union Investment/Pegasus Portfolio (winner)
• AXA IMRA/Santander Sale & Leaseback
• M&G Real Estate/British Car Auctions Portfolio

Debt Category:

• Allianz RE/Hammerson/ Project Jewel loan portfolio (winner)
• Safra/The Gherkin
• Blackstone/Multi

Newcomer Category:

• Griffin Real Estate & Echo Polska Properties (winner)
• Fosun/Palazzo Broggi
• Malaysian consortium/Battersea Power Station

Development Category:

• Battersea Power Station, London (winner)
• The Pinnacle, London
• Bois-Colombes, Paris

Corporate Transaction Category:

• Merlin/Testa (winner)
• ING REIM Europe/ CBRE Global Investors
• JLL/King Sturge merger

Editor’s Choice:

• Orion Capital Managers/Puerto Venecia, Zaragoza (winner)
• Victory Advisors/The Atrium, Amsterdam
• Unibail and Rodamco Europe merger