Warburg-HIH Invest acquires day-care centres for Warburg-HIH Zukunft Invest special fund

• Four day-care centres with a total of 23 groups of children


• Properties located in the German cities of Bremen, Duisburg and Moers


• Long-term rental agreements with centre operators Step Kids Education and Zaubersterne


• Properties sold by AUDERE EQUITY


• Projects scheduled for completion this year and by mid-2022

Hamburg, 21 June 2021 – Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate (Warburg-HIH Invest) has successfully acquired a portfolio of four day-care centres from AUDERE EQUITY. The two-storey properties are being constructed as part of a new development in Bremen. One building is located in the Hemelingen district and houses six groups with a gross lettable area of 1,440 square metres, and the other is in the Huchting district, with eight groups across a gross lettable area of just under 1,130 square metres. The portfolio also features two fully renovated buildings in North Rhine-Westphalia: in Duisburg (five groups with gross lettable area of roughly 850 square metres) and in Moers (four groups with gross lettable area of 715 square metres). The properties will form part of the Warburg-HH Zukunft Invest open-ended special AIF. The four day-care centres are rented by their current operators under long-term rental agreements. The three centres in Bremen and Moers are run by Step Kids Education, and the facility in Duisburg is operated by Zaubersterne. All of the day-care centres are located in established residential areas on large plots of land with child-friendly outdoor spaces. Three properties are scheduled for completion before the year is out and the centre in Bremen’s Huchting district is expected to be finished by the second quarter of 2022. The transaction was completed in the form of an asset deal. The parties have agreed not to disclose the price of the sale.

Jens Nagelsmeier, Head of Transaction Management Retail at Warburg-HIH Invest, says: “We have succeeded in expanding our fund’s portfolio with the addition of four properties of outstanding quality. The centres are run by experienced and professional companies with highly acclaimed learning concepts. We remain on the lookout for properties to add to our portfolio for our investors.”

Horst Lieder, CEO of AUDERE EQUITY, says: “Day-care is crucial to maintaining a positive work-life balance. We firmly believe that day-care centres develop efficiently and in a user-oriented manner. The needs of both operators and families can be met quickly with high quality solutions. At the same time, we are demonstrating that investment in this ESG-compliant asset class can be profitable and sustainable for investors with high standards.”

Bremen is the 11th largest city in Germany and has significant demand for child day-care. The underlying conditions of a strong demand surplus and city-governed demand planning are favourable to day-care centre operators. The district of Hemelingen, home to one of the Bremen day-care centres, offers a high standard of living thanks to its excellent infrastructure. Besides Hemelingen’s good transport links and wide variety of retail opportunities, the district also features a number of private- and public-sector services, schools and cultural attractions. The district of Huchting is a residential area located on the border with Lower Saxony. It is in close proximity to a number of local recreational areas, making it popular among families.

The number of day-care places in North Rhine-Westphalia is also significantly short of the current demand. North Rhine-Westphalia offers a high-quality subsidy framework for day-care centre development. The town of Moers is located in the Lower Rhine region just outside Düsseldorf. The day-care centre is being constructed in the district of Moers-Mitte, which has around 15,000 inhabitants. The area is surrounded by numerous schools and homes. The Duisburg project is located in the district of Neumühl at the city’s northern boundary, with a number of primary and secondary schools nearby.

Anwaltskanzlei Heuking Kühn Luer Wojtek, Hamburg, was responsible for legal and tax due diligence. C.P.H. PROJEKT- UND BAUMANAGEMENT (CPH), Hamburg, conducted technical and ESG due diligence.

“We have succeeded in expanding our fund’s portfolio with the addition of four properties of outstanding quality. The centres are run by experienced and professional companies with highly acclaimed learning concepts. We remain on the lookout for properties to add to our portfolio for our investors.”

Jens Nagelsmeier, Head of Transaction Management Retail
Warburg-HIH Invest

“Day-care is crucial to maintaining a positive work-life balance. We firmly believe that day-care centres develop efficiently and in a user-oriented manner. The needs of both operators and families can be met quickly with high quality solutions. At the same time, we are demonstrating that investment in this ESG-compliant asset class can be profitable and sustainable for investors with high standards.”

Horst Lieder, CEO
AUDERE EQUITY