BMO Real Estate Partners (BMO REP) has raised €250m for its latest high street retail property fund.
The manager said the Best Value Europe II (BVE II) fund – which plans to raise €600m – currently has a total of eight investments worth €233m.
Like its predecessor, BVE II focuses on prime high street retail properties within top tier or dominant European cities that benefit from strong tourism, high footfall and deep international retailer markets.
The manager said the most recent investments in Paris, acquired for a total of €36m, are 42 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois and the 1 Rue de la Michodiere restaurant asset.
The fund has a further €100m of properties in exclusivity and set to complete before the end of the year, including in Milan, Copenhagen and Madrid, with a significant future pipeline of investments under consideration, the manager said.
Ian Kelley, fund director Europe at BMO Real Estate Partners said: “We are continuing to see strong occupier demand for prime retail locations in top cities, which benefit from above-average economic growth, strong tourism levels and affluent footfall.”
As a result, there remains positive rental growth within this specific pocket of the retail property market, where physical stores are used by strong brands as an integral part of their omni-channel model, Kelley said.
“We have delivered a circa 15% net asset value increase since BVE II’s inception and, with an exciting pipeline of potential investments in place, we look forward to announcing a number of new acquisitions before the end of the year as we continue to grow the portfolio.”
