Private investment manager Ardian has raised €700m for its first European real estate fund.
Ardian said it received interest from major pension funds, insurance companies, financial institutions, and high net worth individuals across the world. In total, the Ardian Real Estate European Fund attracted nearly 50 investors from 11 different countries.
In September 2015, Ardian launched a commercial real estate arm, aiming for €2bn of assets under management by 2020.
Real estate is Ardian’s fifth pillar of investment activity alongside fund-of-funds, direct investment, infrastructure and private debt.
The fund which has an investment sweet spot of €50m to €150m targets commercial property assets with a significant size in the core-plus/value-added segment and seeks to significantly enhance rental income through active asset management, Ardian said.
The fund focuses on the main cities of the three largest economies in the Eurozone (Germany, France and Italy), where Ardian already has an extensive background in direct private investment, it said.
Ardian said the fund has already deployed significant amounts of capital across four different attractive investment opportunities in its core markets of Germany, France and Italy.
Bertrand Julien-Laferrière, the head of Ardian Real Estate, said: We have already been able to deploy capital across nine assets that perfectly fit our strategy, highlighting the attractive investment opportunities that exist on the market and we’ll announce significant new transactions in the coming months.
“With the success of this fund, the market gets a new and exciting entrant that benefits from Ardian’s multi-local presence and long-term, disciplined investment philosophy.”
