LEADING CITIES INVEST BUYS CHIQUITAS EUROPEAN HEADQUARTER AT LAKE GENEVA

New generation real estate fund gains 16.8 percent in value over five years

Frankfurt (26 February, 2019) – The LEADING CITIES INVEST public fund by the KanAm Grund Group has made its first investment in Switzerland by purchasing the European headquarters of Chiquita Brands International at Lake Geneva from the Asset Management Company AERIUM GROUP. The property in Etoy, between Lausanne and Geneva, is a four story solid-wall office-building with basement. The approximately 3,500 square meter building was finished in 2018. LEADING CITIES INVEST, the first new generation open-end real estate fund for private investors, now holds investments in 15 locations across five countries and has appreciated by 16.8 percent in value since it was issued 5 years ago. The fund management will continue to follow the guiding principles of this sustainable return of at least 3 percent per year with maximum possible security in 2019, as they are already approaching final negotiations for further suitable properties. The current CashSTOP is therefore set to be lifted by the end of March, to open the fund for new investments.

The northern shore of Lake Geneva with the economic center of Lausanne is well known as a popular location for leading international companies, such as hardware provider Logitech, cigarette and tobacco manufacturing company Philip Morris International, footwear manufacturer Bata as well as global food and beverage company Nestlé. The authorities are actively promoting the economic development of the French-speaking canton of Vaud, which is already the renowned home of leading industries from micromechanics, electronics, watchmaking, medical engineering, information and bio technology.

The Chiquita building is a highly visible property in the municipality of Etoy, with optimum public transport and motorway links to Lausanne and Geneva, including the airport. In addition to four levels of office space and a central reception area on ground level, the building offers space for storage, archive and technology underground. The property furthermore includes 73 outdoor parking spaces. The tenancy agreement with Chiquita Brands International, who financed most of the final completion of the building themselves, runs over a 10 year term (from the moving-in date in 2018)

Chiquita Brands International, Sarl is a producer and distributor of fruit and vegetable and one of the world's largest banana exporters. Chiquita also trades in various other types of fruit and vegetable. Founded in 1899 as United Fruit Company (UFC, or UFCO), in its last annual report from 2014, the company stated annual revenues of more than 3 billion US dollars, employed 20,000 people and operated in nearly 70 countries world wide. In 2015, the company, which had been listed on the stock exchange, was privatized and sold to the Brasilian juice giant Cutrale and financial conglomerate Safra Group. In 2008, the company's European headquarters moved from Belgium to Rolle in Switzerland, from where they have now, almost ten years later, moved to the new headquarters with distinctive corporate identity in neighboring Etoy. It has been agreed to keep the sales price confidential.

Chiquita is the LEADING CITIES INVEST's first investment in Switzerland. Other investments held by this successful real estate fund are mainly located in Germany, France, Belgium, England and Scotland. At the end of last year, the fund purchased several logistics centers in Germany, serving cities and metropolitan areas, as an added mix to its Europe-wide real estate portfolio.

The LEADING CITIES INVEST takes advantage of the growth potential of future-oriented cities with a high potential for further development and harnesses it for private investors. The investment spectrum includes a range of different types of commercial properties, from select office buildings, retail outlets and renowned High Street properties to hotels. With the C-SCORE and the Property Selection Model (PSM), KanAm Grund applies two research and portfolio models that were developed in-house, in order to identify promising real estate markets and properties for LEADING CITIES INVEST. The two models work hand in hand and, in all recent transactions, offered important data on quality and expected performance. The newly developed G-Score Model is a further optimization of this approach specifically for Germany.

The LEADING CITIES INVEST was issued in July 2013 and is subject to the regulations that have been governing protection for investors since 22 July, 2013. Specifically, this means that the minimum investment period for investors is 24 months with a notice period of 12 months thereafter. This regulation on the return of share certificates gives the fund stability with regard to liquidity management, particularly compared to older funds whose focus in investor composition remains on old investors, as the rating agency Scope pointed out in a report. Scope pointed out that due to a change in the legal framework for open-end real estate funds, the LEADING CITIES INVEST was the first open-end real estate fund for private investors, which applied the same rules to all investors.

About the KanAm Grund Group
The KanAm Grund Group has handled a transaction volume of more than USD 32 billion since it was established in October 2000. The owner-managed company focuses on the individual needs of German and international investors, with the geographical emphasis being in Europe and the United States.

In order to set it up strategically to face the challenges of the future, the company was reorganized into three business divisions under the umbrella of the KanAm Grund Group: KanAm Grund Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft (an open-end real estate fund), KanAm Grund Institutional Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft (a special real estate fund) and the new KanAm Grund REAM (international investment & asset management advisory). The aim of this strategic repositioning is the continuous development of the KanAm Grund Group from a German real estate fund issuing company into an international real estate enterprise which provides real estate investment and asset management services to German private investors, institutional investors and international investors alike, irrespective of the investment vehicles involved.