Swiss-based real estate investment manager Empira has sold a 16,000 square metre property project in Vienna for an undisclosed amount. The property had been held through a Luxembourg Reserved Alternative Investment Fund.
The Zug, Switzerland based firm had only bought the property two years ago. In a statement, Empira spoke about a “successful sale at attractive terms… exactly in line with the investment approach of this product”.
Empira originally acquired the approximately 4,500 square metre property in the third quarter of 2020 and subsequently brought it to construction readiness for a state-of-the-art office project. The buyer of the approximately 16,000 m² project is a large pharmaceutical company, it said, without disclosing the name of the buyer.
Fund created in May 2020
The Vienna investment was held through the Luxembourg-registered Empira Opportunities Fund SCS Sicav-Raif, an alternative investment fund created in May 2020. The fund held about 185 million euro in assets at the end of 2021, according to its annual report.
“By leveraging our in-house transaction and development capabilities and local market expertise, we are enabling significant value creation for our investors while enhancing the micro-location through a modern and sustainable new development,” said Lahcen Knapp (photo), president of Empira AG.
Empira, subject to supervision in Luxembourg as an AIFM, operates a handful of Raifs in Luxembourg. Raifs are often used by Swiss-based investment managers to offer private assets to international investors. Empira last issued a new Raif in October, the Empira Global Real Estate Income Fund SCS Sicav-Raif. Its funds mostly target investments in German-language countries.