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About
Albulus

A dedicated investor specializing in German commercial real estate debt

Albulus is an investment adviser based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, specialising in investments in subperforming and nonperforming commercial real estate loans. The Luxembourg-based Albulus CREDIT fund invests in maturing real estate debt in Germany for institutional investors.

As part of its distressed opportunities strategy, Albulus manages three customized investment mandates on behalf of one international and two German investors, targeting investments in nonperforming real estate loans. Since its establishment in 2011, Albulus has invested EUR 500 million equity capital in 19 successful transactions. The Albulus team has extensive expertise in the acquisition and workout of loans secured by

commercial property in Germany. It is headed by company founder Dr. Ruprecht Hellauer and his longstanding business partners, Dr. Tobias Friedrich and Christoph Schröder. Over the past 15 years, the management team has overseen investments in real estate debt with a nominal value of more than EUR 2 billion, and has managed loan workout with a volume in excess of EUR 1.5 billion.


Albulus CREDIT

Investments in maturing real estate debt with an attractive risk-reward profile



Albulus CREDIT

Attractive investment opportunities in the secondary market

The Luxembourg-based Albulus CREDIT fund invests in real estate loans secured by first-ranking mortgages on marketable German commercial properties. The loans have investment quality due to ongoing interest and amortization payments, but debtors are failing to make repayments on time.

 

By selling maturing loans, banks can, in value-preserving manner, reduce their exposure to maturing real estate loans that they are no longer interested in prolonging.

However, borrowers are given sufficient time to fully repay the loans and to release their equity through refinancing or the sale of the property. Albulus CREDIT thus generates attractive returns while limiting risk exposure for the fund investors.

 

The Albulus CREDIT fund opens up a new market segment, reconciling banks’ interest in optimising capital allocation with institutional investors’ need for capital-efficient, tax-transparent and attractively yielding investment opportunities.

The investment advisor of the Albulus CREDIT fund is a subsidiary of Albulus Advisors Germany GmbH.

Focus

Albulus CREDIT has developed a strategy to achieve attractive yields with a limited risk profile by investing in subperforming and properly secured real estate loans in the secondary market.Albulus CREDIT has developed a strategy to achieve attractive yields with a limited risk profile by investing in subperforming and properly secured real estate loans in the secondary market.

Subperforming loans offer an attractive risk-reward profile

Albulus CREDIT focuses on the secondary market for commercial real estate loans, currently an underdeveloped subsegment:

  • Performing loans that will not be, or have not been, repaid by the borrowers upon maturity, and which banks are no longer interested in prolonging

  • Investment quality due to first-rank mortgage on attractive German commercial real estate assets with a stable cash flow

  • Loan-to-value ratio capped at 85 percent

  • Offered by run-off banks and restructuring units or out of non-strategic loan books



Realising the full yield potential through disciplined implementation of the investment strategy
Attractive risk-reward profile
Equity-preserving reduction of the balance sheet and avoidance of forbearance reporting



Albulus
DISTRESSED OPPORTUNITIES

Sustained value creation through effective loan workout and proactive property asset management



Albulus DISTRESSED OPPORTUNITIES

Investments in nonperforming commercial real estate loans

Within its customised distressed opportunities investment mandates, the Albulus team structures investments in nonperforming loans (NPLs) and creates significant value for its predominantly international investor base through effective loan workout and proactive asset management. The nonperforming loans are acquired directly from banks at a discount to the outstanding loan amount and the value of the collateral.

They therefore represent a deep value investment opportunity. Value creation is achieved through a particularly effective loan workout in addition to proactive asset management designed to enhance the value of the underlying real estate collateral. This two-pronged approach, expertly implemented by an experienced team, generates attractive returns for investors, and facilitates the acquisition of debt at fair market prices.

Focus

The Albulus team carefully selects distressed opportunities, focusing on high-quality collateral - preferably investment grade - with potential for value creation through asset management.The Albulus team carefully selects distressed opportunities, focusing on high-quality collateral - preferably investment grade - with potential for value creation through asset management.

Value appreciation through real estate and loan workout expertise

Under its Albulus Distressed Opportunities investment mandates, the Albulus team focuses on nonperforming loans, its wide-ranging experience of the loan workout and property asset management assuring investors of a high level of value creation:

  • Acquisition of commercial property loans secured by larger attractive real estate assets (office, retail, hotel and logistics)
  • Focus on Germany to avoid possible risks arising from legal and regulatory frameworks
  • The properties pledged as collateral are located in Germany and generally have considerable potential for value appreciation, which can be realised by active asset management (e.g. refurbishment, development of alternative utilisation models, increase in occupancy rates, reletting to more attractive tenants)
  • The transaction volume for midsized single loans or small portfolios ranges from EUR 10 million to 75 million in receivables
  • This midmarket segment is less competitive, enabling transactions to sometimes be effected in the absence of any rival bids


Effective loan workout and proactive asset management as value drivers
Value-based investments in nonperforming commercial property loans
Optimising equity capital allocation and reducing the administrative burden



Case Studies

Five-star hotel, Hamburg
Completed in 1971, the 281-room five-star hotel was in need of full refurbishment and urgent implementation of extensive fire protection measures.
Five-star hotel,Baden-Württemberg
The borrower, a closed-end property fund, failed to repay the loan upon maturity.
Five-star hotel, Hamburg
A listed building dating back to 1909, the 245-room five-star hotel had recently benefited from a partial refurbishment. Its attractive location gave the site significant potential for further development, yet this could no longer be capitalised on by the borrower.
Shopping Centre,Passau
Extended and completely refurbished in 2008 with a total investment sum in excess of EUR 25 million, the inner-city shopping centre was divided into small units, some of which have since been leased to well-known tenants.
Shopping Centre, Wuppertal
Built in 1965 and situated at the top end of the pedestrian precinct, the department store was converted into a shopping centre in 2002 and leased to several prestigious tenants. When an anchor tenant moved out, the owner – an international closed-end property fund – ran into financial difficulties and was no longer able to service the outstanding loan.
Office building,  Munich
Having been occupied by a large German corporation for several decades, the inner-city office complex was, upon expiry of the lease, in need of full redevelopment that the borrower was no longer able to carry out.



Team

Albulus CREDIT and Albulus Distressed Opportunities

 

Dr. Ruprecht Hellauer

Managing Partner of Albulus CREDIT GmbH and
Albulus Advisors Germany GmbH

Phone:  +49 69 13384 7520
Email:    ruprecht.hellauer@albulus.com

Dr. Ruprecht Hellauer, the founder and Managing Partner of Albulus, has more than 20 years of real estate experience, including 13 years of investment experience in commercial real estate loans. Ruprecht holds a diploma in business administration (lic. oec. HSG) from the University of St Gallen, Switzerland, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a PhD in business administration with specialisation in real estate from the University of Vienna. He began his career as a property developer at Gerald Hines in Berlin, before joining Feri Real Estate as an equity partner. He was later appointed Managing Director of DTZ Investment Advisers. Prior to the establishment of Albulus in 2011, Ruprecht in 2004 co-founded Lohnbach Investment Partners, the German investment arm dedicated to NPL investments for Soros Real Estate Investors.


Dr. Tobias Friedrich

Head of Loan Workout
Phone:  +49 69 13384 7530
Email:    tobias.friedrich@albulus.com

Dr. Tobias Friedrich has over 20 years of experience in loan workout, including more than 10 years in the area of nonperforming real estate loans.
Tobias completed his law degree at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and was subsequently awarded a PhD in fiscal constitution. Prior to his appointment as Head of Loan Workout at Lohnbach Investment Partners, he held various management roles in the area of workout and property finance at Bayerische Landesbank, ultimately managing a commercial property financing portfolio of EUR 2 billion. Tobias has been part of the management team of Albulus since it was established in 2011.


Christoph Schröder

Head of Acquisitions
Phone:  +49 69 13384 7540
Email:   christoph.schroeder@albulus.com

Christoph Schröder studied economics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and obtained an MBA from Colorado State University. He began his professional career in the acquisitions department of Lohnbach Investment Partners in 2007, before joining the Corporate Finance Real Estate M&A division of KPMG. Christoph has been part of the management team of Albulus since the company was founded in 2011.


Wallace Mathai-Davis

Senior Advisor
Phone:   +49 69 13384 7510
Email:    wallace.mathai-davis@albulus.com

Wallace Mathai-Davis has more than 25 years of experience in international asset management and as a senior banking executive who has worked in North America, Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Prior to his appointment as chairman of Shepherd Kaplan, Wallace Mathai-Davis was a principal owner and managing partner of the GIA Group, a New York-based investment company specialising in advisory services for banks and asset managers. The company’s client base includes financial institutions in the USA, China, the EU and Ukraine. Wallace holds a PhD and an MA from Princeton University and graduated maxima cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in Paris with a BA in philosophy and modern languages.




History

Expertise in commercial real estate loans

With its extensive experience in nonperforming real estate loans in Germany, the core Albulus team has been working successfully on investments for more than 15 years.

2004

In 2004, Soros Real Estate Partners and Dr. Ruprecht Hellauer founded the joint investment platform Lohnbach Investment Partners to invest in nonperforming commercial real estate loans in Germany.

2006

With a Japanese bank as a joint venture partner, this investment platform acquired more than EUR 2 billion of distressed real estate loans (EUR 1 billion for its own book).

2011

Newly established Albulus continues to build on this success story, investing EUR 300 million in equity capital in thirteen transactions under three separate investment mandates in nonperforming and subperforming commercial property loans.

2017

The first closing of the Luxembourg-based Albulus CREDIT fund, which enables institutional investors to invest in subperforming commercial real estate debt in Germany, was completed in October 2017.


2018

Albulus CREDIT has an investment focus on maturing or matured loans secured by German retail, office, hotel and logistics properties.

2019

Final close of the Luxembourg Albulus CREDIT Fund at EUR 130 million.

2020

Market sounding for the Albulus CREDITselect Fund, targeting stretched senior loans.



Media contact

Media contact:
Charles Barker
Corporate Communications GmbH

Gräfstr. 99
60487 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

Phone: +49 69 79 40 900
Email:  albulus@charlesbarker.de




Contact

Albulus Advisors Germany GmbH
Goetheplatz 2
60311 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

Phone:  +49 69 - 1338 475-0
Fax:      +49 69 - 1338 475-13
Email:   info@albulus.com


Albulus CREDIT GmbH
Goetheplatz 2
60311 Frankfurt am Main
Germany

Phone:  +49 69 - 1338 475-0
Fax:      +49 69 - 1338 475-13
Email:   info@albulus.com


© 2024 | Albulus Advisors Germany GmbH
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