MUNICH—Prudential Real Estate Investors and Qatar-based QInvest have acquired a portfolio of 16 multi-tenant retail properties located primarily in western Germany through a newly formed joint venture. Terms of the JV, which covers a portfolio spanning 1.58 million square feet, were not disclosed.

"The acquisition provides investors with access to long-term income returns through strong underlying leases with major German retailers in proven, diversified, regional markets," says Sebastiano Ferrante, head of Germany for PREI. Ferrante cites "the attractive fundamentals of the German economy and the overall retail investment market."

Adds Craig Cowie, head of real estate at QInvest, "The transaction provides us with higher yielding exposure with value add upside secured by defensive assets in one of the more robust EU economies. We intend offering equity to our shareholders and clients as part of our ongoing initiative to offer value add returns to all stakeholders."

Key tenants include some of Germany's largest retailers. PREI will act as the portfolio and asset manager for the properties. With this acquisition, PREI now manages more than €700 million, or approximately US$750 million, of German retail assets on behalf of its investors.

This past September, QInvest and PREI, which operates as Pramerica in markets outside of the Americas, Kore and Japan, launched the QInvest Pramerica Liquid Real Estate Fund. The new fund will invest exclusively in high yielding sharia'a-compliant REITs and other real estate-related securities, sourced globally by Pramerica.