Swiss Finance & Property Group acquires majority stake in VIGA RE Management ApS

• Acquisition of shares to obtain a majority in Danish real estate asset manager VIGA RE Management ApS
• SFP Group AG’s CEO Adrian Murer will become a member of the board of VIGA RE Management ApS
• Strong growth since launch of VIGA RE A/S in April 2021 with current GAV of around EUR 235 million
• Capital increase is planned in H2 2022
• Overall ambition: Portfolio Gross Asset Value (GAV) of around EUR 1 billion

For SFP Group, the acquisition demonstrates a strategic commitment to its expansion outside of Switzerland and a long-term partnership with its existing local partners Niels Heering and Kristian Vinther.

The VIGA portfolio
VIGA RE Management ApS is the manager of VIGA RE A/S (VIGA), a Core/Core+ real estate vehicle focused on residential properties in the Copenhagen area. Since its launch in April 2021, VIGA has demonstrated a strong performance and expansion by assembling a high-quality portfolio of 19 assets with approx. 42 000 m² lettable space and a Gross Asset Value of approx. EUR 235 million (DKK 1.75 billion). VIGA’s portfolio is divided into 82% residential and 18% commercial use.

Market situation and strategy
The fundamentals of the Copenhagen Core/Core+ real estate market are still considered favourable due to positive demographic and economic trends. The city generally has a young population and is anticipated to continue its high growth: Copenhagen has added around 110 000 new residents over the past decade. According to the latest IMD ranking, Denmark also ranks highly for its business-friendly environment.
VIGA aims to offer investors attractive risk-adjusted returns. The focus is on Core/Core+ residential properties with low vacancy and re-letting risk as well as central, well-connected locations and stable cash flows. Particularly attractive in the current high-inflationary environment is that the vast majority of leases in VIGA’s portfolio are linked to NPI (Net Price Index), allowing for rental increase opportunities.

Sustainability
Sustainability is an important factor in VIGA’s investment proposition, also within the context of Copenhagen’s vision to become the world’s first carbon-neutral capital by 2025. The Danish capital has the world’s largest district heating network and has implemented a system to transition from coal, oil, and natural gas to sustainable renewable energy. Since all properties in VIGA’s portfolio are connected to the central heating system, heating is expected to be carbon-neutral over the next three years.

Outlook
The objective for VIGA is to extend the portfolio within the course of the next 12 months to a portfolio value of over EUR 500 million. Accordingly, VIGA is preparing a new capital increase in the second half of 2022, which will be supported by Swiss Finance & Property Ltd. The overall ambition of VIGA is to reach a GAV of around EUR 1 billion.