On 18 June 2021, Baloise announced that the fund management company of the Baloise Swiss Property Fund was examining the purchase of a property portfolio with a market value of around CHF 185.2 million. To finance the purchase of these properties, the fund management company has decided to conduct a capital increase of around CHF 135 million from 10 August 2021 until 12 noon CEST on 19 August 2021. In addition, the fund management company plans to borrow around CHF 50 million of external capital for this property purchase. 

The new units will be issued on a best-effort basis as part of a rights offering in Switzerland. A maximum of 1,243,895 new units will be issued. This will increase the number of outstanding units from 4,714,285 to a maximum of 5,958,180 units. Any units not taken up by subscription will not be issued and the total issuance amount will be reduced accordingly. The fund management company reserves the right to either acquire units that have not been taken up by the end of the subscription period or to place these in the market in collaboration with the custodian bank or a third party subject to appropriate due diligence. 

The fund management company will use the issue proceeds and the additional external capital for the cash purchase of a property portfolio from Baloise Insurance Ltd and Baloise Life Ltd (both based in Basel) for the Baloise Swiss Property Fund. On 9 June 2021, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) granted the fund management company a special exemption from the prohibition of acquisitions from related parties pursuant to article 63 (4) of the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA) in conjunction with article 32a of the Swiss Collective Investment Schemes Ordinance (CISO) for the purposes of the acquisition of these properties.

The real estate portfolio to be purchased comprises 15 residential properties, one commercial property and one mixed-use property that are spread across ten cantons. The proportion of residential use comes to 83 per cent, while 5 per cent of the portfolio is used as office space, 1 per cent as commercial premises and 11 per cent for ancillary purposes (parking, storage space and craft rooms). In geographical terms, the portfolio comprises properties in north-western Switzerland (29 per cent), the area around Lake Geneva (25 per cent), the Zurich area (21 per cent), the Swiss Plateau (8 per cent), central Switzerland (7 per cent) and eastern Switzerland (10 per cent). The acquisition of this portfolio will maintain a broad level of geographical diversification in the fund in keeping with its investment strategy.

The issue prospectus pertaining to the capital increase for the Baloise Swiss Property Fund will be published at www.swissfunddata.ch in good time before the start of the subscription period and can also be obtained from the fund management company or the custodian bank free of charge.

The Baloise Swiss Property Fund is a contractual investment fund under Swiss law that falls into the ‘real estate fund’ category and is designed for qualified investors. 

The primary investment objective of the Baloise Swiss Property Fund is to generate a steady level of current income through direct investment in Swiss core/core-plus real estate in good locations that offers high stability in terms of earnings and value. The fund pursues a strategy of purchasing properties all over Switzerland with the aim of holding these for a prolonged period and optimising their earnings potential. It strives for broad regional diversification and, in the medium to long term, sectoral diversification targeting at least 50 per cent residential use and no more than 50 per cent commercial use.

Disclaimer: The real estate fund described in this press release is designed exclusively for qualified investors within the meaning of article 10 (3) and (3ter) CISA. Full information on the real estate fund mentioned herein can be obtained from the latest annual report and the documents that form the basis of a potential investment. These documents can be requested free of charge from the fund management company (Baloise Asset Management AG, Aeschengraben 21, 4051 Basel, Switzerland) or from the custodian bank (UBS Switzerland AG, Bahnhofstrasse 45, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland).