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Axa, Schroders to Bid for NorthStar Realty Properties

Axa, Schroder to Bid for NorthStar Realty Properties

(Bloomberg) -- Axa SA and Schroders Plc are among bidders for a European real estate investment trust managed by an affiliate of Colony Capital Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

NorthStar Realty Europe Corp., which has $1.3 billion of properties in Europe, fielded a second round of bids this week, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is private. The REIT has come under pressure from a major shareholder to sell assets and return cash to investors via dividends or stock buybacks, and hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in November to conduct a strategic review of the business.

NorthStar Realty Europe’s shares rose 3 percent to $18.10 at 9:32 a.m. in New York.

The REIT amassed 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) of properties in a year-long buying spree before being listed in 2015. Despite adding value to its portfolio by extending some leases and filling vacancies, the company has consistently traded at a wide discount to the value of its assets.

The REIT’s parent NorthStar Asset Management Group Inc. was acquired in 2017 by Colony, which is run by Tom Barrack, a longtime confidant of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Goldman has sought to find a buyer for the REIT as a whole, though some bidders including Axa and Schroders have proposed only buying its properties, the people said.

Representatives of Axa, Goldman Sachs, NorthStar Realty Europe and Schroders declined to comment.

NorthStar Realty Europe’s portfolio consists primarily of office properties in Germany, France and the U.K. It completed 1 billion euros of sales last year, including what was its largest asset, the Trianon office tower in Frankfurt, which fetched about 670 million euros.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jack Sidders in London at jsidders@bloomberg.net;Gillian Tan in New York at gtan129@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shelley Robinson at ssmith118@bloomberg.net, Patrick Henry

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