- ActivumSG has acquired a majority stake in German serviced apartment operating company Centralis
- The transaction, sitting at the intersection of the hospitality and living sectors, includes the corporate platform, nine initial assets, as well as a substantial exclusive pipeline
- ActivumSG and Centralis will scale the platform to capitalise on the opportunity offered by disruptive, tech-enabled hospitality operations
ActivumSG, one of Europe’s largest independent real estate investment managers, today announces the majority acquisition of Centralis, a serviced apartment real estate platform currently focused on the German market.
In addition to the corporate platform, the transaction includes four completed assets in Berlin, Bonn and Lübeck as well as five projects in Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Cologne, Bonn and Nuremberg which are predominantly assets primed for value-add refurbishment plans. In aggregate, the nine assets total 550 keys across 23,000 square meters of net lettable area in desirable urban infill locations.
All the assets are pre-let to modern, tech-enabled hospitality operators on long-term, inflation-indexed leases. ActivumSG and Centralis have a significant number of assets under exclusivity in anticipation of doubling the size of the portfolio by the end of 2025.
Founded in 2020, Centralis specialises in the acquisition, refurbishment and development of serviced apartments and other hospitality-like assets in prime urban locations in Germany’s top seven cities and additional secondary markets. Centralis’ founders will assume co-CEO roles in the business and retain a significant minority shareholding ensuring appropriate alignment of interest and incentivisation.
Centralis will benefit from ActivumSG’s substantial hospitality and residential expertise across Europe as well as the knowledge and resources of the investment manager’s on-the-ground team in Frankfurt and Berlin, key members of which will be intimately involved in the platform’s transaction sourcing, underwriting and asset management activities.
ActivumSG’s investment will provide capital for growth with ambitions to scale the business into a €500 million+ (GAV) platform in the medium term and plans to thoughtfully expand across Europe already underway. Growth will be achieved by capitalising on distressed sales, taking advantage of owner-operator succession situations, deploying capital into assets with capex requirements, selectively executing on attractively priced development opportunities, and exploring M&A activity with other property-rich hospitality platforms.
ActivumSG acquired Centralis having identified an opportunity to institutionalise the growth of professionally managed, tech-enabled serviced apartment accommodation which offers the prospect of higher operating profit margins than traditional hotels due to its highly automated operating model with limited to no personnel requirements.
Today’s announcement comes amidst heightened demand for short-stay rental accommodation in Europe. According to the European Commission, guests spent approximately 850 million nights in short-term rental accommodations in 2024 across the EU, representing a c.20% increase compared to 2023. At the same time, regulatory pressures and restrictions on short-term residential apartment rentals in certain European markets such as Germany have redirected demand towards professionally managed serviced apartment accommodation.
This transaction underscores our strong conviction in the European accommodation sector, with serviced apartments sitting at the intersection of hospitality and living real estate. These are two high growth asset classes in which we have considerable expertise and are an ongoing strategic focus for our client partners. 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. Saul Goldstein, Founder and CEO, ActivumSG
In Centralis, we are acquiring a platform with a seasoned team, a proven track record, a high-quality seed portfolio, and an exclusive pipeline. We look forward to working with Fabian, Lukas and their team to build on this attractive entry point and capitalise on our early mover advantage to build an industry leading platform, eventually expanding its geographic focus beyond Germany. The opportunity with Centralis allows us to build on our 18-year heritage of investing in Germany. 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. Through our value-add approach, we can generate attractive yields on cost relative to market yields as well as substantial stabilised cash-on-cash potential. Johannes Vielberth, Director, Corporate Transactions, ActivumSG
ActivumSG has an excellent track record investing in hospitality and residential real estate across Europe and partnering with existing management teams to drive enterprise and asset value, with a well-established local presence in our home market Germany.“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. Fabian Vieregge and Lukas von Lüdinghausen, Co-CEOs, Centralis
ActivumSG has been an active investor in European hospitality since 2012 and has developed, owned and managed over €1 billion of assets in the sector. Some of ActivumSG’s recent hospitality-related investments across direct asset and corporate platforms have included:
- SLS Barcelona, a ground-up development of a five-star, 471-room luxury hotel located on Barcelona’s seafront which opened in April 2025 and became the first hotel in Europe operated by Ennismore’s lifestyle hospitality brand, SLS
- Nobu Hotel Barcelona, acquired in 2021 and revamped to include Barcelona’s highest rooftop pool and bar – this 259-room asset recently became Spain’s highest BREEAM rated hotel to date following further ActivumSG-led capital expenditure initiatives
- Odyssey Hotel Group, a white-label operator of global hotel brands that currently encompasses a portfolio of 25 hotels across Europe providing almost 4,200 rooms, with a further 25 hotels in the pipeline
- Palacio Solecio, a 230-year-old Andalusian palace in Málaga that was transformed into a luxury boutique hotel and sold for €51 million in April 2024
- Hampton by Hilton Fira Gran Via, a ground-up development in Barcelona, strategically located near a major business destination and sold in February 2024
- Hard Rock Hotel Madrid, re-positioned from a former municipal office building near one of the city’s main train stations and sold in 2022 for €65 million
About ActivumSG
ActivumSG is one of Europe’s largest independent real estate investment managers, with a proven track record of value-add and opportunistic strategies.With professionals in Germany, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, ActivumSG executes a multi-sector specialist investment strategy with a significant focus on the accommodations and hospitality sectors, and investing via direct real estate, corporate platforms and special situations.Founded by ex-Cerberus private equity real estate veteran Saul Goldstein, ActivumSG has raised close to €3 billion in discretionary capital. Including affiliated entities and its advised funds’ portfolio companies, the ActivumSG ecosystem directly and indirectly advises on over €10bn in real estate and real estate-related investments.
