REAL ESTATE - ING Real Estate Investment Management has closed the ING Property Fund Central and Eastern Europe, the firm announced today.

The fund will focus on institutional investors, the majority of which will be pension funds, a spokesman for ING Real Estate said.

"The fund has been closed, because there was enough interest from the market," a spokesperson for ING Real Estate said.

Investments are expected to be around €1bn, for which it will pursue a return of between 10% and 11%.

The fund is looking at two concrete real estate projects, one of which is on the verge of initial closing; for the other one a binding agreement has been signed.

Also there are five other projects still in the pipeline, according to the firm.

ING Real Estate expects to realise investments of around €400m by the end of 2007.