Financial details were not disclosed.

The assets are located in various German cities including Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Hagen. The vendor of the portfolio is German housing firm Vivawest.

‘By acquiring 3,750 apartments in our core markets, we are continuing to advance our focused growth strategy. Attractive acquisitions cannot be taken for granted given the current modest supply of residential portfolios,’ said Thomas Hegel, CEO of LEG.

The transaction comes a day after Danish pension fund PFA announced it had acquired the Century portfolio with over 3,700 residential units in Germany from listed housing landlord Industria Wohnen, underscoring the strong competition for assets in the sector. 

LEG said the Vivawest portfolio generated rental income of around €13.5 mln in the last financial year. The transaction is still subject to approval by the German antitrust authority Bundeskartellamt.

Claudia Goldenbeld, managing director of Vivawest, commented: ‘The sale is part of our portfolio strategy, which besides selected divestments envisages increased investment in acquisitions, modernisations and the construction of more than 5,000 new flats by 2022.’

LEG is one of Germany’s leading listed housing companies with around 130,000 rental properties and 350,000 residents. The company generated rental and lease income of around €796 mln in the 2017 financial year.