1000hands supplies the data for the Karstadt property transaction

1000hands AG carried out the data capture for one of the the largest property transaction of all time in Europe. In two project phases, the floor areas of all Karstadt department stores were completely measured, floor plans were created in CAD format floor space calculations were carried out according to gif MF-G and DIN 277.

The total gross external area measured and recorded was approx. 5 million sq.m. At peak times, up to 80 members of staff were deployed on the project in day and night shifts. The processing times for the two phases was about 3 months.

The contractually watertight data provided by 1000hands were made available to the potential investors in the data room and were used as the basis of the notarial purchase contracts.

According to the unanimous view of all parties involved (owners, estate agents, banks, solicitors), it was clearly apparent that it is far easier to sell large portfolios if the transaction is substantiated by competent and up to date surveying measurements and the investor can see what it is getting. A proper data basis considerably simplifies the sales process and leads to better sales prices.

In the first phase in August 2005, Karstadt Quelle AG sold seventy-five of its smaller department stores to a consortium consisting of Dawnay, Day Principal Investments and Hilco UK Ltd. Dawnay, Day is a one of the largest European property investment funds with its headquarters in London, Hilco is an investor specialised in trading companies which is based in London and Chicago. The 74 smaller Karstadt department stores, all of them with less than 8,000 square metres of retail space, achieved an annual turnover of almost 700 million euros and had almost 5,000 employees. The buildings are all situated in medium-sized German towns and cities.

In the second phase, Karstadt-Quelle sold its large stores. But Karstadt did not completely relinquish these department stores: They were sold to a joint company in which the US investment bank Goldman Sachs holds 51% and Karstadt-Quelle AG holds 49% of the shares. This transaction consisted of 85 department stores, 12 sports stores, 29 multi-storey car parks, 15 office buildings and 33 other properties. The sale brought 3.7 billion euros immediately, and the Group expects a further 800 million euros from appreciation in the coming years.