Europa Capital was a net seller of investments from its value add funds in 2017 as it completed another year of transactions in excess of €1.0 billion. In a year of high activity, Europa Capital continues to experience strong investor interest in stabilized, income-producing assets.
Milestones for the fund manager included more than 50 percent of invested capital returned in its most recently invested value-add fund, Europa Fund IV.
On a strategic level, Europa Capital continued the diversification of its investment management platform through the acquisition of a UK student housing portfolio, for a core-plus return strategy, and the creation of a dedicated specialist PBSA team, Europa Generation. Europa Capital also continued to grow its UK real estate debt fund business, is expanding its real estate senior debt lending activities into continental Europe, and made its first investment for a separate account ‘income plus’ program.
The majority of Europa Capital’s disposals were made from Europa Fund IV, but Europa also made good progress towards finalizing the sale of its few remaining investments in Europa Fund III.
Significant acquisitions were also completed in 2017 on behalf of Europa Fund V, including transactions intended to capitalize on the office recovery in the Munich and Paris office markets, which are both characterized by limited supply and strengthening occupier interest.
Key deals this year include:
February 2017: Disposal of 16,800 sqm Cubus office building and adjacent hotel in Dusseldorf for €58.4 million;
May 2017: Acquisition of Le Semaphore 11,500 sqm office building situated on the banks of the River Seine in Levallois‐Perret to the West of Paris for €63 million;
May 2017: Acquisition of 1705 bed UK portfolio of purpose built student accommodation in six regional cities for £158 million;
June 2017: Acquisition of the 42,000 sqm Telefonica Germany headquarters office building near the Olympiapark in Munich;
July 2017: Disposal of three office buildings in Budapest totaling 27,450 sqm for €61 million;
September 2017: Disposal of over 110,000 sqm of retail warehouse parks located in the UK and Netherlands for in excess of €180 million; and
December 2017: Disposal of two office sites in Paris, one of which was previously Renault’s riverfront convention and exhibition centre.
Jason Oram, Partner at Europa Capital, said, “Europa Capital has continued to deliver a high volume of successful acquisitions and disposals for its value-add clients and has also progressed the diversification of its investment management activities for those clients that are also looking to invest in core and core-plus European real estate investment strategies.”
