Thursday, November 12, 2015

Munich, 12 November 2015 - IPH Handelsimmobilien GmbH and IC Immobilien Group today announced that they are forming a joint venture.

'The joint venture unites the strengths and expertise of both companies', explains Joachim Stumpf, CEO of BBE Handelsberatung and IPH Handelsimmobilien. 'This partnership combines extensive experience within the retail sector with real estate and management expertise', comments Marc Balkenhol, COO and member of IC Immobilien Group's executive management board. The new joint venture specialises in the management of shopping centres and complex retail parks across the whole of Germany, providing excellent centre management and hostic property management services. The new company's Managing Director is Peter Glöckner, previously Head of Centre Management at IPH Handelsimmobilien GmbH.

'In bringing together the best of our worlds, we will add longterm value to our clients' properties', says Joachim Stumpf. 'We will be offering our services exclusively to third-party clients and will not be developing a property portfolio of our own', explains Glöckner. According to EHI's Shopping Report 2015, IPH Centermanagement GmbH already qualifies at launch as Germany's largest independent shopping centre manager. 'We are committed to growth, but not at any cost. Our priority is to deliver the highest quality services to our clients and to ensure that we understand the future of retail and retail real etate better than anyone else. Our talented team, among the leading experts in their fields, are the firm foundation upon which our services are based', says Glöckner. IPH Centermanagement GmbH currently manages 25 shopping centres.

'The new company draws on an extremely broad range of capabilities. IPH Centermanagement GmbH is closely networked with the retail trade and potential tenants', says Joachim Stumpf. The multidisciplinary team behind the joint venture unites 120 retail experts at BBE Handelsberatung und elaboratum with 250 property and asset management experts at the IC Immobilien Group. 'The IC Immobilien Group brings a level of technical expertise to the joint venture, with its own technicians, engineers and architects, that make it possible toplan, deliver and manage even the most complex modernisation and redevelopment projects', says Balkenhol. 'No one knows more about retail', adds Glöckner.

In property management, professional SAP data management creates distinct competitive advantages. 'We will be able to use the IC Immobilien Group's SAP interfaces to produce customised reports for our national and international clients', explains Glöckner. 'Over the last few years real estate owners have demanded a greater degree of transparency and more comprehensive forecasts based on extensive enterprise reporting. A large number of investors have strict legal obligations to fulfill', says Balkenhol. The IC Immobilien Group uses a modern SAP system. 'Our many years of experience serving a wide range of investors, particularly international clients with investments inm Germany, has sharpened our focus on their requirements', says Balkenhol.

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