STAR TOWER

BERN

“THE WANKDORF CENTRE“ AT STADIUM

In 2011 we were appointed to advise the equity sponsor of Wankdorf Centre, a London based family office managing Indian funds, on restructuring the troubled financing and preparing the property for an eventual exit. In the course of the mandate the existing capital structure had to be reshuffled including DEKA owning an A note worth CHF 230m, and Deutsche Bank still holding a B note originally quoted at CHF 65m. The value of the outstanding loan amounts and debt service was hardly covered by residual cash flows from the, as such, lavishly performing shopping, office, service and wellness centre attached to the shell of the Bern soccer stadium. A complex lease hold structure applied, as well. Despite dire results from surveys drafted by Jones LangLaSalle and DEKA who were poised to launch foreclosure measures on the Luxembourg/German ownership structure, the asset management team was capable of taking the lead on the lender’s negotiations.

In parallel, a refinancing package was discussed and set up with UBS. At the peak of the transformation process Deutsche was convinced to sell its B note at a significant discount to an investor brought in by the asset management team. In due course, a limited tender with three major Swiss institutions was orchestrated, leading to a successful sale of the Wankdorf Centre at around CHF 290m to UBS real estate funds.

ZURICH

THALWIL “SILVERGATE”

The property was purchased from Credit Suisse Asset Management in 2009 on behalf of a listed Dutch REIT who appointed us to build up a CHF 150m portfolio in Switzerland. Within this envelope the office building “Silvergate” was acquired at CHF 44m and was anchored by Papyrus and Würth. The asset management challenge was to defend the building in a rather competitive micro market environment, upgrading the internal fittings within strict budgets and the ongoing letting activities of the vacant area. “Silvergate” was financed with Migros Bank and eventually sold to an Israeli investor in 2012

FRIBOURG

“CENTRE PEROLLES”

The acquisition process was complicated by the Lex Koller restrictions, a Swiss law limiting the ratio of residential units in a mixed used building acquired by non-Swiss parties and banning foreign buyers from buying stand-alone residential, at all. The portion of residential use in Perolles Centre was nearing the critical 25 per cent mark but eventually the consent from the authorities was obtained. Shortly after completion of the acquisition, the assetman agement team was in a position to separate and dispose the residential units at a favourable price to an institutional Swiss investor. Furthermore, an extensive refurbishment, marketing and repositioning program was launched to lift up the attractiveness of the mall to more appealing tenants; repair the scrambled layout of the ground floor and the rather useless restaurant space on the upper floor. The former measures included a make over of the car park and the underground Migros shop; a face lifting of the entrance and façade lighting concept; and a rebranding of the shopping centre as an inner city venue. Upon completion of the works, Centre Perolles was sold in 2012 to Swisslife. This charming, inner city commercial and residential property was bought from a Swiss family advised by Bank Leu, a now fully integrated bank owned by Credit Suisse, at around CHF66m. The senior debt facility was granted by Migros Bank. The centrally located Migros anchored shopping centre was combined with 56 residential units above and a vast underground parking area. Wishlist having a beautiful, historical façade fronting the main street, the interior layout of the mall was less favourable especially the narrow entrance and poor visibility from the pavement.

ZUG

“HERTI” SHOPPING CENTRE

This traditional shopping centre was nestled in the very heart of a large residential area, comprising a market square- like shopping mall with star shaped entrances on four sides and an office tower aside the main entrance and parking facilities in front of the complex. “The Herti” is a household name in the city of Zug and therefore a foreign investor had to live up to local expectations and dynamics. The senior debt facility was agreed with Migros Bank. A complicated lease hold structure with the Kanton limited the options to refurbish and extend the building, hence the asset management requirement was to negotiate and navigate within the given frontiers to upgrade the tenant mix and look of the mall to entertain the anchor tenant’s (Coop) interest to support the changes of layout within the mall. The scheme was sold in 2013 during the general disposal program to a Swiss investor.

KANTONS ZURICH

HINWIL AND ZWEISIMMEN SHOPPING SCHEMES

In 2008/09 two retail development projects were purchased by way of forward commitment from Swiss developer Omega Plan. The shopping scheme in Hinwil comprised tenants Aldi, C&A, Denner, Fressnapf (pet's shop) and ATU car services. The plot was ideally embedded into a large shopping district just outside Hinwil, a highly frequented area close to Lake Zurich. Across the street Sauber, the Formula 1 team, has its R&D facilities. The second property, a stand-alone Aldi in Zweisimmen, a small town nearby the world famous ski-resorts of Gstaad and Interlaken, was built on a plot on the primary access road. As both projects were bought pre-construction the asset management team had to support and monitor budgets, all relevant negotiations and contracting with the tenants and on site contractors. The project and eventual long term finance was facilitated by Migros Bank. The eventual resale of the properties took place in 2011 to a private investor at around CHF25m.

ZURICH

AARAU AND KLOTEN

Zurich-Kloten is the city district directly neighbouring the Kloten Airport. The prospective office building was mainly let to BIZZ, a Cantonal job service centre. The asset management target in both properties was neatly focussed on suitable refurbishment investment and ongoing fostering of the tenants to promote Kendris to enlarge its occupancy and lease term in the building in Aarau and to renegotiate the lease for a new term with the Cantonal tenant in Kloten. The package was financed with Deutsche Bank London and disposed in 2012, Aarau to a Swiss pension fund and Kloten to a foreign private investor. These two smaller properties were added complimentarily to a larger client portfolio subsequently in 2008. Aarau is the capital of Kanton Aargau and the particular office building was anchored by the fiduciary services and family office shop Kendris, a spin-off of KPMG.