The Virginia Retirement System has approved a $103.5m (€75m) commitment to a Europa Capital fund.
The commitment to Europa’s Real Estate Fund IV is the first by Virginia and follows several other US pension funds committing to the fund, including the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association and the San Diego City Employees Retirement Association.
Europa Capital is looking to raise €750m but declined to comment when contacted. The fund is targeting a gross IRR of 25% and net IRR of 20%.
The fund, which invests across Europe including Norway and Switzerland, will be leveraged to around 65% on a portfolio basis, with maximum leverage of 75%.
Europa will identify and acquire properties for €15m to €50m in need of management, refurbishment or redevelopment to core institutional standards. Investments in a 152,865 sq m industrial portfolio in the UK and a 15,087 sq m office building in France are among the investments made so far by the fund.
Backed by owners the Rockefeller Group, Europa is co-investing in the fund up to a maximum of €50m, including €10m from the company’s founding partners.
Virginia, which does not have a set or established targeted allocation for real estate, had $6.3bn of its $63bn of total plan in real assets at the end of February.
