Mitiska REIM, a leading specialist investor in European convenience real estate, has announced that fundraising for its third flagship fund, Mitiska European Real Estate Partners 3 (MEREP 3), has now reached €168 million. The fund has already closed three investments since the beginning of this year, representing a third of the capital raised so far.
MEREP 3 is the third flagship fund from Mitiska REIM and continues its focus on the accelerating opportunity in convenience real estate across Europe, targeting food-anchored retail parks, last-mile urban logistics, multi-let light industrial and self-storage opportunities. MEREP 3 aims to capitalize on the increasing demand from a growing range of end users for urban infill sites that offer accessible locations, affordable buildings, flexible design and sustainable solutions.
MEREP 3’s investment strategy targets light to heavy value-add investments, including repositioning, reconfiguring and retrofitting existing properties and de-risked development projects. This latest fund builds on the strong track record and performance delivered by the preceding funds which are on track to realize 12-15 percent net IRR with attractive annual distributions to investors. MEREP 3 plans further fundraising and additional closings over the next 12 months.
MEREP 3 has so far closed three investments. These include the acquisition of Europa Centralna, a retail park with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 67,000 sqm in Gliwice, Poland, and the joint venture with OPC to roll out retail parks in Slovakia, which has commenced with the acquisition of a retail park in Skalica and a development project in Sládkovičovo. In addition, as part of Mitiska REIM’s joint venture partnership with STORO, the MEREP 3 fund has acquired self-storage facilities in the Belgian cities of Mechelen and Roeselare, with plans to roll out the innovative STORO concept in Belgium and other European markets in the coming years.
Sylvie Geuten-Carpentier, Managing Partner at Mitiska REIM, comments: “We are very pleased with the strong investor interest and support for MEREP 3 from both existing and new investors. The current market conditions play to the strengths of specialized value-add investors such as Mitiska REIM, and we have built a substantial pipeline of additional investment opportunities across retail parks, urban logistics, multi-let light industrial and self-storage as we move towards further closings of the fund.”
Axel Despriet, Managing Partner at Mitiska REIM, adds: “The evidence from many past economic cycles has shown that volatility and times of high market stress can create opportunities for investors with the requisite market knowledge. We think this is especially true for value-add strategies – by keeping dry powder during volatile times, we continue to find significant success in making off-market acquisitions of both properties and portfolios at attractive pricing.”
