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ING REIM Netherlands sells 13 offices of REOFN 24/06/2010

ING REIM Netherlands sells 13 offices of REOFN to international joint venture

The Hague, 24 June 2010 - On behalf of ING Real Estate Office Fund of The Netherlands (‘REOFN’), ING Real Estate Investment Management (ING REIM) has entered into a definitive agreement to sell a portfolio of thirteen office properties to a joint venture of (inter)national investors, advised and assisted by PingProperties and WW Advisors. Terms of the sale are undisclosed.

The portfolio comprises more than 84,000 m2 of lettable office space together with some 1,200 parking spaces. The portfolio originally involved 14 office buildings. Two buildings were separately sold, one by ING REIM and the other by PingProperties.

The properties are located in prime urban areas throughout The Netherlands and were predominantly completed around the year 2000. Key tenants include Akzo Nobel, Vodafone, Deloitte, Rijksgebouwendienst, Heijmans and AKD Prinsen van Wijmen.

PingProperties acted on behalf of an investment consortium consisting of three Dutch family offices and institutional investors from the Middle East, who were assisted by WW Advisors, in the sale. The portfolio of twelve offices has been structured to form the ‘Tango Properties CV’ joint venture. The transfer of the portfolio is planned for the end of this year.

The properties sold were part of ING REOFN, a fund established in March 2008 following the takeover by ING REIM of a larger investment portfolio from Kantorenfonds Nederland (KFN). Some of the KFN properties were not in line with the strategy of the ING Dutch Office Fund that focuses on prime properties in major Dutch markets (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht) and/or are located near main public transport hubs. These properties were placed with the REOFN fund that would have a term of up to three years. This transaction completes the sale of the REOFN portfolio following earlier transactions in 2009.

David Swan, Managing Director, WW Advisors said:
"We have been analysing a number of investment opportunities across Europe. In the Tango portfolio, PingProperties has originated a deal that fits our investors’ model at every level, from the quality of the asset and tenants all the way through to very respectable co-investors and solid leases. This is an exciting deal for the investors we assist. Our mandate is supported by an important amount of equity allocated to investments across the strong European markets. We are now working on number of opportunities and we hope that other transactions will be closed in the near future.”

PingProperties focuses on the 'opportunity' investment market. PingProperties sees opportunities and develops a vision for the property by adding value. This translates into a concrete approach. All this leads to a whole range of attractive investment opportunities. By pursuing this course of action, coupled with a firm belief in it, PingProperties keeps a keen eye on the market, acts decisively and as a result generates good returns.

DTZ Zadelhoff and Savills acted for ING REIM in the transaction, with Nauta Dutilh and KPMG Meijburg respectively providing legal and tax advice. In this transaction PricewaterhouseCoopers acted as tax adviser for PingProperties. CVO Group supervised the technical due diligence and DLA Piper acted as legal and tax  adviser to the acquiring joint venture. The financing facility was concluded with FGH Bank.