In 2015 Allianz Real Estate entered a co-investment joint venture with UK REIT Hammerson to acquire the Project Jewel loan portfolio from Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) for €1.85 bn. JLL acted as adviser to the buyer, while Eastdil was the sole adviser to the seller.

Jury comment
The jury singled out the deal because of its ‘sheer size’ – it was Ireland’s largest real estate-backed transaction – and significance in that institutional money backed Ireland at a time when it was coming out of a painful economic recession. The deal was also a ‘game changer’ for Allianz, which ventured into the NPL sector for the first time and indirectly acquired a platform of assets in the Irish retail sector that is now witnessing strong growth.

Allianz and Hammerson subsequently took direct control of one of the assets, Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin and Ireland’s biggest shopping centre, in July 2016. The complex and competitive nature of the debt deal with NAMA is testament to how far Allianz has come as an investor and illustrates the sohistication of its acquisition capability, said JLL.

‘This transaction enabled Allianz to indirectly acquire a platform of assets in the Irish retail sector that is experiencing significant growth. The marriage of equity and expertise between the two purchasers is the model that is preferred by long-term investors in this cycle,’ the jury noted. 

1ST RUNNER-UP
In 2014 Brazil’s Safra Group acquired 30 St Mary Axe, the building better known as The Gherkin, in the City of London for £726 mln. The property was purchased directly from the receivers Deloitte Real Estate and Savills, who also acted as adviser to the buyer.

The jury said one of the most iconic buildings in the City achieved a record price, becoming the largest single-asset transaction in London for that year. Given the insolvent position of the seller, the joint agents had to manage over 400 interested parties and were successful in ensuring a smooth transaction process and finding the best buyer.

2ND RUNNER-UP
In 2013 Blackstone acquired Multi Corporation Debt from Multi Vastgoed for an undisclosed amount. Cushman & Wakefield advised the buyer. The judges said it was one of a number of deals in which Blackstone snapped up assets previously owned by the property arm of a bank and gained access to a development platform and pipeline.

The deal allowed Blackstone to establish a strong presence in the Turkish retail market, one of the fastest growing in Europe. Besides the debt, Blackstone controls one of Multi Corporation’s shopping centres in the UK after buying a portfolio of non-performing property loans from Royal Bank of Scotland.