NETHERLANDS – Real Estate Investment Management (REIM), the real estate investment management division of Dutch insurance company ASR, has completed the second closing of its Dutch prime retail fund with fresh capital coming from French and Swiss institutional investors.
Bas Tiemstra, fund manager of the fund and managing director of commercial real estate at ASR, told IPE the company had secured approximately €75m of new capital since its first €380m closing in December 2011.
The total size of the fund has now reached more than €450m.
“One of the investors that had previously invested in the first closing of our Dutch prime retail fund has decided to provide further capital,” he said.
“During the initial closing, their investment was relatively modest. But, given the fact we performed as we promised over the past 18 months, their expectation for our fund was still very attractive.”
REIM also secured commitments from a French and a Swiss institutional investor.
Tiemstra added that the investments into the fund ranged from €20m to €30m for each investor.
“There are a fairly limited number of French institutional investors that invest abroad,” he said.
“But this specific investor is fairly large and already has exposure to the real estate market outside of France.”
He said the investors were core investors attracted by a dividend yield of 5%+ net of costs and fees, and a total expected return of around 9%.
Tiemstra said REIM was aiming for a third closing this year.
REIM reached a first closing for its Dutch prime retail fund in December 2011, raising €380m from European institutional investors against a target of €300m.
ASR, a cornerstone investor in the fund, secured capital from two Dutch pension funds, one UK pension scheme and one Belgian insurance company for the first closing.
