DaimlerChrysler AG has sold a real estate portfolio to ICADE S.A.

DaimlerChrysler AG has sold a real estate portfolio to the French company ICADE for over US$380 million.

The portfolio included 160,610m² of buildings with 60,000m² of vacant surface area and 130 hectares of land.

ICADE is a leading French full-service property developer active in the housing, services, healthcare and public sector markets. ICADE's businesses cover the entire property development value chain: design and development, land investment, holding, trading, promotion, operations and management. By skillfully executing these different services, ICADE offers its customers tailored solutions to specific needs.

DaimlerChrysler AG develops, manufactures, distributes and sells a range of automotive products, mainly passenger cars, trucks, vans and buses. It also provides financial and other services related to its automotive businesses. Over the years, the company has invested in many real estate activities, some of them are now considered a non-core asset.

Oaklins' team in Germany advised the seller in this transaction. The team organized an international bidding process with some ten potential buyers. Some bidders were only interested in individual objects or parts of the portfolio, but not in the whole package. Since DaimlerChrysler preferred to close the transaction with only one investor, ICADE presented the highest bid of US$380 million for the entire portfolio. Total book value was approximately US$250 million, meaning that DaimlerChrysler realized hidden reserves of over US$130 million.