Hines, the international real estate firm, announced the final closing of its Hines European Value Fund (HEVF) with a total fund size exceeding €720 million of equity commitments, surpassing its original target by more than 40 percent.
HEVF accepted commitments from a primarily European group of 16 limited partners including German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, French and Finnish institutional investors, alongside Hines co-investment as Sponsor. The limited partner group includes subscriptions from Allianz, Intesa Sanpaolo Vita, Nordrheinische Ärzteversorgung (NAEV), Kirchliche Versorgungskassen KZVK / VKPB, OP Real Estate and the Finnish Church Pension Fund, Formuesforvaltning, Kommunaler Versorgungsverband Thüringen (KVT), Wealthcap and other well-respected German and Asian pension fund and insurance group clients.
12 of the Fund’s 16 investors are first-time investors with Hines, demonstrating a high conviction in Hines’ ability to execute this new value add strategy based on an exceptional track record in the space and a high-quality, broad execution platform spanning 13 countries in Europe.
Hines Fund Manager Paul White recently appointed Ruth Jackson to serve as Portfolio Manager in the dedicated team.
HEVF is the flagship value add fund for Hines in Europe, with a geographic mandate across the European Union (plus Norway) and flexibility of scope to invest in office, retail, logistics, residential and mixed-use opportunities in primary institutional markets. The Fund’s strategy envisions applying guidance from Hines’ proprietary research framework to emphasize markets offering the best value at each phase of the three-year investment period, and within those active target markets to leverage the proven ability of Hines’ local market teams to actively add value at the real estate level.
In the first 12 months following the Fund’s initial closing, HEVF has committed c. €200 million equity to the Fund’s first three project investments in Stuttgart, Copenhagen and Barcelona, along with a fourth acquisition in exclusivity. The strength and depth of the Hines execution platform in Europe, with €16.7 billion of AUM and 386 Europe-based employees, will be instrumental in sourcing and successfully executing value add acquisitions at this moment in the capital markets cycle.
Alongside the capital raise and inauguration of HEVF, the continued growth of its discretionary Hines Pan-European Core Fund (HECF) to a GAV in excess of €1.1 billion and Hines’ continued strength as a Europe-wide developer with over €5 billion of developments underway are evidence of Hines furthering its vision to be the best real estate investor, partner and manager in the world.
Paul White, HEVF fund manager, remarked, “The HEVF management team and Hines leadership are delighted by the success of the capital raising for our flagship European value add vehicle, which is intended to be the first in a recurring HEVF series stretching across cycles in our target markets. The deep Hines European network is generating strong, attractive pipeline, particularly off-market. We are focused now on the work of very selectively assembling a fund portfolio to deliver the investment objectives of those investor partners who have placed their trust in this mandate.”
Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, commented, “With local teams in 11 countries and 17 offices, we have grown our European platform by strengthening our presence on the ground in strategic markets across the region. We have invested in over 50 European cities with strong diversification across all sectors and the full risk spectrum. Hines has established itself as one of the leading players in European real estate, which is testimony to the in-depth strength of our experienced team across the continent, and the trust our investors place Hines.”
