Eurocastle Wins Portfolio With $2B-Plus Bid

NEW YORK CITY-Dresdner Bank AG, a unit of insurance concern Allianz AG, has selected London-based Eurocastle Investment Limited as the winning bidder for its German-real estate portfolio. The price works out to be approximately $2.4 billion.

The portfolio includes approximately 300 buildings housing the bank. According to published reports, the transaction does not include the firm’s Frankfurt headquarters.

Eurocastle is managed by locally based Fortress Investment Group. It is a Euro denominated Guernsey closed-ended investment company that invests in and manages a portfolio consisting primarily of European credit leased real estate and real estate-related debt. Fortress is an investment and asset management firm with approximately $16 billion in equity capital currently under management.

A request for additional information was not answered by deadline. In a statement, the companies say that once a definitive agreement is reached, a more detailed press release will be issued and a conference call will be scheduled.

In November, Dresdner issued a long-term reorganization plan to align its business model with a goal of achieving a 12% return after taxes by 2008. “The new organizational structure gives us a powerful business model that will enable us to take the offensive in the coming years,” says chairman of the board of managing directors Herbert Walter.