CBRE European Shopping Centre Fund II closes at €753 million – EuropaProperty

The CBRE European Shopping Centre Fund II (ESCF II), a fund managed by CBRE Global Investors, announces the final close of the fund at €753 million. This includes €71.1 million of co-investment capital and exceeds the original equity raise target. The fund was oversubscribed.

The closed end fund builds on the strengths of the CBRE Global Investors’ retail platform and is delivering a focused strategy that generates alpha through buying, improving and selling dominant shopping centres across Europe. The strategy is expected to deliver an 11 percent net IRR and has a Core plus risk profile. The fund targets assets that have a strong operational track record and offer income growth opportunities from short lease expiries or repositioning.

Florencio Beccar, Head of EMEA Retail and Fund Manager of ESCF II, commented: “This capital raise has exceeded our expectations and shows that investors are keen to support managers that offer a focused and specialist investment strategy. I believe this has been enhanced by the strong performance of our first fund and we are delighted that 35 percent of the investors were existing ESCF clients.

We are one of the market leaders in the European retail sector and these strong capital inflows are a great recognition of our expertise by investors. One of our unique selling propositions is our proprietary database of €14 billion of retail assets under management in Europe which includes 70 shopping centres. We are also able to draw upon the local expertise of our transaction and asset managers who are based in 14 European countries.

This platform provides us with a unique understanding of the retail landscape and gives us the edge for identifying the right assets, acquiring them and making them perform for our investors.”

The fund has already acquired four shopping centres in Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain.