Standard Life Investments closes second European real estate club

The global asset manager, which is one of the largest real estate investors in Europe, has completed its final close on the fund, raising over €391 million of equity from 10 investment groups from five countries across three continents.

Investors from the UK, the Netherlands, the US, Canada and Saudi Arabia committed capital to the strategy.

The Club will have an investment capacity of up to €790 million, once the 50 per cent target gearing is deployed.

The seven-year closed end real estate investment vehicle focuses on buying commercial property in core markets – specifically France, Germany, Benelux and Scandinavia.

At final close, the Club had already completed the acquisition of six high quality assets, representing approximately 35 per cent of total equity available:

• An office in Paris, France

• Hanse Forum, an office in Hamburg, Germany

• Von-der-Tann, an office in Nuremburg, Germany

• Regina, a retail and office property in Aarhus, Denmark

• A logistics facility in Dusseldorf, Germany

• An office in Aarhus, Denmark

Daniel McHugh, head of continental European real estate at SLI, and fund manager for the club said: “The investment thesis that underpins our first European real estate club has received tremendous support and we are delighted that most of our initial Euro Club investors decided to commit additional capital to this new vintage, along with a significant number of new international investors.

“Our strategy is to deliver value-add returns from mispriced core quality real estate with measurable and manageable risk attached. The first Euro Club was fully invested within six months of the final close. For Euro Club II we already have an extensive deal pipeline that continues to build, given the momentum we have been able to establish in this extremely competitive market.”

The launch of Euro Club II responds to positive investor sentiment for the first €308m Standard Life Investments European Real Estate Club (Euro Club), which completed its final close in October 2014. This vehicle is now fully committed, having secured a total of 10 deals to date. It further reinforces Standard Life Investments’ long and successful track record in Europe where it launched one of the first pan-European balanced funds, the European Property Growth Fund, in 2001.