ActivumSG has acquired a majority stake in German serviced apartment platform Centralis.
Teaser: The company’s investment into serviced apartments represents an expansion of its broader living portfolio.
Activum’s purchase includes Centralis’ corporate platform, four completed assets in Berlin, Bonn and Lübeck as well as five projects in Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Bonn and Nuremberg set for refurbishment. In total, the assets comprise 550 keys across 23,000 square meters.
With some assets already under exclusivity, ActivumSG and Centralis aim to double the size of the portfolio by the end of 2025 and in the medium term, scale the business into €500 million+ platform with properties across Europe. The strategy includes growimg through strategic acquisitions & refurbishments, development opportunities as well as exploring potential M&A activities with other property-rich hospitality platforms.
Why it matters
The acquisition further signifies the growing intersection of the hospitality and residential markets. The company’s investment into serviced apartments represents an expansion of its broader “beds” portfolio across Europe. And with limited personnel requirements and a streamlined operating model, products such as serviced apartments are increasingly seen as a reliable, high-margin option by investors. Further, ActivumSG’s move comes as demand for short-term rental accommodations continues to rise while regulatory pressures and restrictions on short-term residential apartment rentals redirects that demand towards serviced apartment accommodation.
What they said
Saul Goldstein, founder & CEO of ActivumSG said: “With traditional staff-heavy hospitality operating models under pressure from rising costs and labour shortages, the tech-enabled, people-light serviced apartment model offers the prospect of premium profit margins alongside a reliable user experience that appeals to a diverse range of customers. However, there remains a lack of high-quality investable opportunities in this attractive sub-sector - a gap in the market which we will look to address through this acquisition.”
Johannes Vielberth, director, corporate transactions at ActivumSG added: “ActivumSG’s investment and expertise will enable Centralis to scale its asset base, providing the real estate infrastructure to modern hospitality operations in a growing sector backed by multiple tailwinds.”
Fabian Vieregge and Lukas von Lüdinghausen, co-CEOs of Centralis added: “The German serviced apartment market has seen steady growth over the last few years, while being still highly diverse and fragmented, creating opportunity for well-capitalised market players like us to acquire, convert and aggregate stock into a scaled, institutional-quality portfolio.”