Olivier Piani, global head of Allianz Real Estate, told the Expertise Pierre magazine in mid-2009 that the group intends to be very active on the French investment market. Overall, Allianz intends to boost its property holdings to around €30bn in value by 2013 from some €18 billion at present. Piani said that the group, at 3% of assets, was underexposed to property and intended to double this proportion over the next few years.

The Budapest deal encompassed acquisition of a 50% share in the Allee mall, with ING retaining the remaining 50% ownership, plus center management. Allee, opened in November, has all retail units fully leased and offers 47,000 square meters of retail space and 7,000 square meters of office space in Budapest's fast growing 11th district in the Buda quarter.

The Munich asset is located in the Maxvorstadt district and comprises 11 houses built between 1900 and 1996, all refurbished to modern standards, and encompassing in total 39,000 square meters of GLA. "We are very pleased with this acquisition just before the end of 2009," said Stefan Brendgen, CEO of Allianz Real Estate Germany. "With our current investment strategy we are focusing on attractive, large volume real estate in the best locations of European cities," added Brendgen.

"This joint venture in Budapest fully corresponds to our current investment strategy focusing on investments in cities in eastern European countries and also developing the retail volume in our portfolio. Our investments in December 2009 are the prelude for a period of intense acquisition in 2010. We are currently assessing the acquisition of further retail and office properties in our market region."

In Paris, Allianz Real Estate France has realized recent development or refurbishment projects totalling around 180,000 square meters, and valued at close to €500 million. This includes the tower Olivier de Serre in the 15th quarter encompassing 34,000 square meters of office space certified to French HQE sustainable standards and offered on the market at €520 per square meeter per annum

In the same quarter, the Cristal Tower, at 30,000 square meters, should be opened at end-2010. As well, Allianz has investment of €130 million committed to its Athena Tower in the La Defense business district to the west of Paris. The project, due for completion in 2012, will offer 42,000 square meters of floor space, up from an originally planned 35,000. Managing Director France Olivier Wigniolle, appointed last June, said the group intended to profit from the fact that a number of major players would be obliged to make disposals due to cash-flow difficulties.