JLL and EDC International Poul Erik Bech are commercial advisors in this year’s largest real estate transaction in the Nordics
JLL Capital Markets in Sweden and Finland, together with the partners Akershus (Norway) and EDC International Poul Erik Bech (Denmark), have been commercial advisors to Brookfield Super-Core Infrastructure Partners in the purchase of 49% of the shares in the newly founded property company EduCo for SEK 9, 2 billion in cash with an additional earn-out of up to SEK 1.2 billion in cash. The seller of the shares is Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget i Norden AB (SBB).
SBB remains the owner of the remaining 51% shares in the company. The company focuses on educational properties in the Nordic region, and the property portfolio includes 585 properties with a rental area of approx. 1,300,000 sq m. The majority of the properties are located in Sweden and Norway and will be managed by SBB.
Brookfield is a leading global alternative asset manager with more than 750 billion dollars of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable energy and transition, private equity and credit.
“I am extremely proud of the work we have done as commercial advisors to Brookfield in this very large, complex transaction. Moreover, I think it is interesting to see a global giant like Brookfield identifying educational assets as a key component of social infrastructure and that they now choose to invest significant amounts in Swedish and Nordic educational infrastructure,” says Thomas Persson, Head of Capital Markets Nordics, JLL.
Educational properties in Denmark
JLL is one of the world’s largest real estate companies with an annual revenue of USD 19.4 billion, 98,000 employees and activities in over 80 countries. Due to a large increase in the number of international customers, EDC Poul Erik Bech established an independent international department almost four years ago.
About the transaction and EDC International Poul Erik Bech’s collaboration with JLL, Helle Nielsen Ziersen, Head of the International department, says: “The transaction is the largest real estate transaction in the Nordics this year, where the majority of properties are primarily located in Sweden and Norway, while Finland and Denmark account for a smaller overall part of the transaction. Nevertheless, it concerns a number of Danish educational properties, which are distributed with locations across the country.”
“At EDC International Poul Erik Bech, we service international investors and companies, and we work closely with JLL on a wide range of cases. Our department is expected to grow by almost 60% in revenue this year compared to the last year, so we continue to grow year by year.”