An Arctic Securities club deal has acquired Kongsberg Teknologipark (Kirkegårdsveien 45) from H.I.G Capital, Blackstone and Oslo Pensjonsforsikring for a total of NOK 3.1 billion. This 175 000 m2 portfolio has a rental income of about NOK 250 million and is leased to 50 companies.

UNION Real Estate Fund II has acquired the Valle Wood and Valle View office buildings at Helsfyr from NCC Property Development. Valle Wood covers 7 700 m2 and is currently being completed, while Valle View will be 23 000 m2 and have the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI) as its largest tenant when it is completed in 2021. The transaction also includes a development site with planning permission for 27 000 m2 of offices and a parking facility with space for 220 cars. Pareto Securities has arranged the transaction, which totals NOK 1.83 billion.

Ragde Eiendom has acquired four retail properties and two sites from Tristan Capital for about NOK 1.55 billion. The 100 000 m2 retail portfolio is located in Arendal, Ålesund, Sarpsborg and Grenland, and leased to such tenants as Tesla, Coop, Power, XXL and Biltema with an average lease duration of eight years. The sites are located at Tangerud in Oslo and in Grenland.

A NRP Finans club deal has acquired the Jærhagen shopping centre (Solavegen 25) in Klepp local authority from Coop Klepp and Dolphin Eiendom for about NOK 1 billion. This 57 000 m2 property has a rental income of NOK 65 million and is leased to such tenants as Coop, Power, Elkjøp, Sport Outlet and Møller Bil.

A DNB Markets club deal has acquired Vinkelgården (Kirkeveien 59) at Majorstuen in Oslo from Nordea Liv for NOK 375 million. This 2 135 m2 property is leased to DNB Bank.

Arealstatistikk: The average level of rents for signed leases in Oslo was NOK 2 410/m2 for the second quarter of 2019. This represented an eight per cent increase from the first quarter of 2019. The four-quarter rolling average is up by two per cent from the first quarter and six per cent from the same quarter of 2018.

Norges Bank decided to keep its base rate at 1.25 per cent at its rate-setting meeting on Thursday 22 August. According to the central bank, new information acquired indicates overall that the short-term outlook for interest rates has changed little since the previous meeting, but that the international risk picture poses greater uncertainty.

Statistics Norway: The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.9 per cent from July 2018 to July 2019. The consumer price index adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products (CPI-ATE) rose by 2.2 per cent in the same period.

Statistics Norway: Unemployment was 3.6 per cent in June after an 0.1 percentage point increase from March, according to seasonally adjusted figures from the labour force survey (AKU). Employment rose by 4 000 people over the same period.

DNB Scandinavian Property Fund has purchased Vitaminveien 4 at Storo in Oslo from Skanska Commercial Development for NOK 1 325 million. This 24 000 m2 office building is leased to the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the Sagene district, Opera Software and Evolve Business Space.

Carucel Eiendom has called the option to acquire one-third of the equity interest in the commercial areas at Sørenga, Sørengkaia, Barcode and northern part of Bispevika, as well as the associated parking facilities at Sørenga and Munch Brygge from Madison International for approximately NOK 1 100 million. Carucel Eiendom will manage the 38 000 m2 portfolio in Bjørvika in Oslo.

A NRP syndicate has acquired Energivegen 12 in Tananger from K2 Stavanger. The 10 000 m2 mixed use property is leased to Expro Norway with an annual rental income of around NOK 25 million.

Ragde Eiendom has purchased Petroleumsveien 6 at Forus in Stavanger from DNB Scandinavian Property Fund. This 9 600 m2 office building is currently leased to SpareBank 1 SR-Bank and Eiendomsmegler 1 SR-Eiendom. Annual rental income is around NOK 18 million. As previously reported, SpareBank 1 SR-Bank will be moving its head office to Finansparken (Bjergsted Terasse 1) in Stavanger this autumn.

Scala Eiendom has acquired CC Drammen (Tomtegata 36) from Niam Nordic V. The 22 600 m2 shopping centre accommodates more than 30 retail outlets.

Steen & Strøm and Storebrand are making a complete about-turn at Økern in Oslo. They now want to build a market square and shopping streets covering 15 000 m2 in all, split between shops, restaurants and cultural provision. In addition, 2 000 homes and 117 000 m2 of commercial space for offices and hotels are planned. This represents an increase of 1 800 homes and 72 000 m2 in office and hotel space as well as a reduction of 30 000 m2 in retailing space compared with the original scheme.