Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has set up a partnership with La Française to initially invest €387.5m in real estate projects linked to the city-wide Grand Paris Project.
CPPIB has formed the 80-20 partnership with La Française’s shareholder Caisse Fédérale du Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe (CMNE) known as Société Foncière et Immobilière du Grand Paris.
The newly formed venture - which will have an initial €387.5m in equity - expects to expand through additional development projects beyond SaintDenis-Pleyel, a 41,500sqm mixed-use development project and Villejuif-Gustave Roussy, a 21,500sqm office development.
The Grand Paris Project is a major infrastructure undertaking which encompasses 57 sites across the city. Central to the plan is the €35bn Grand Paris Express project – the construction of 200km of new transport/metro lines and 68 new stations by 2030.
Andrea Orlandi, a managing director and head of Europe real estate investments at CPPIB said the partnership in France allows CPPIB to invest in a strategically important development in Paris.
“Through this partnership, we will target regeneration and infrastructure led investments, and we expect the Grand Paris Express to significantly transform the Greater Paris market over the next decade and beyond.”
Xavier Lépine, the chairman of La Française Group, said: “This partnership with a leading institutional investor will enable La Française, with the support of its shareholder, CMNE, to step up its real estate business development and participate, along with other public and private stakeholders, in making Paris a global city.”
