After the closing, RREEF will operate as a business unit within DB Real Estate, the acquiring company says. Besides keeping the RREEF name, senior management based in offices at the John Hancock Building will be retained, Deutsche Bank adds.

"It enhances our ability to offer our clients first-class US real estate investment products," says Deutsche Bank Group executive committee member Michael Philipp. "The acquisition of RREEF fits with (Deutsche Bank's Private Client and Asset Management division's) strategy to improve our position as manager of third-party capital for our clients and is entirely consistent with other acquisitions we have made recently."

Locally, RREEF's recent acquisitions have included the 409-unit Taylor Place multifamily development on the Near West Side, bought late last year for $38.5 million. Also, RREEF has a large management presence in the DuPage County and East-West Corridor submarkets with assets such as Mid-America Plaza and Oak Brook Executive Plaza. Its $16.2-billion management portfolio also includes numerous industrial properties west of O'Hare International Airport.

The deal calls for Deutsche Bank to buy RREEF's operating business, which includes a client list numbering 196 led by California Public Employees' Retirement System and Los Angeles County Employees' Retirement Association, for $440 million. It will pay another $50 million to acquire co-investment assets in RREEF deals.

"The Deutsche Bank network offers RREEF a promising platform for future growth, providing us with stronger access to the global capital markets," says RREEF managing principal Donald A. King, Jr. "We are confident that this alliance will benefit our clients and enable us to continue to provide our investors with the best investment opportunities and quality client service."

Rodamco North America put RREEF on the market because it no longer fit its strategic goals, RREEF officials said earlier this year. Meanwhile, the $5.3-billion sale of Rodamco North America to The Rouse Co., Simon Property Group and Westfield America is on hold at least until March 21, when the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal has another hearing involving the sales price and complaints by shareholders of alleged mismanagement.

That deal involves five malls here, including Water Tower Place on Michigan Avenue and Oakbrook Center.