Cromwell Property Group has exercised its pre-emptive right to acquire third-party investor interests in the €600m Cromwell Polish Retail Fund (CPRF).

The closed-ended fund, which is due to be wound up in December, owns seven shopping centres in Poland.

Paul Weightman, Cromwell’s group chief executive, told IPE Real Assets that the assets would be rolled into a new trust, and the intention would be to grow its assets.

“Current equity (in the fund) is about €245m. That is the level of commitment we would underwrite to do the transaction before any other third-party capital comes in,” he said.

Cromwell has an existing co-investment in the fund, and plans to take a co-investment stake of between 20% and 30% in the new vehicle.

Weightman expects to bring the first capital partners into the new fund by October.

He said: “The most advanced discussions we are having now are with European parties. We are also speaking with some Asian capital partners.”

The Brisbane-based fund manager has about 20 mandates in Europe. The two largest are invested in CPRF and a €400m entity that it manages on behalf of two institutional clients.