UK - Legal & General Property (LGP) has raised new equity for its Industrial Property Investment fund (IPIF) following interest from existing investors to increase their exposure.
The fund manager raised £80m (€95.7m) in new equity from existing investors for the £728m vehicle, which was launched in 1997 and one of the UK's first indirect specialist property funds.
The equity has been raised at a premium to net asset value (NAV), representing the direct cost of investment.
LGP said the new equity would be drawn down over the course of the year, depending on new acquisition opportunities.
Paul Edwards, director for IPIF, said: "We are very pleased to see this level of support for the fund from our existing investors, which is driven by its strong performance track record and our effective management of gearing during the recent downturn."
LGP said the fund benefited from the secondary market, with interests in the fund having been traded throughout the downturn.
It said pricing had reached significant premiums to NAV more recently.
The fund manager said it was banking on new opportunities unfolding in the industrial sector over the next 12 months.
LGP said it would use its inhouse expertise and longstanding relationships with banks and other market operators to deploy the cash, selectively acquiring attractively priced assets that offered value uplift through asset management.
Launched in 1997, IPIF was one of the first vehicles of its kind and has outperformed its benchmark, the IPD Annual Industrial index, over one, three, five and 10 years.
The fund has returned 3.7% a year over five years and 8.2% a year over 10, beating the benchmark by 1.8% and 1.4%, respectively, over these periods.
The fund is primarily focussed on 'quality secondary', higher yielding, multi-let, management-intensive industrial estates.
LGP attributes the performance of the fund to an "efficient management of a large number of tenant relationships, lease events and lettings".
