Meyer Bergman has rebranded to MARK and expanded its strategy to include life sciences and digital real estate opportunities.
The real estate investment manager has expanded its multi-platform strategy by targeting new alternative real estate opportunities, a move it said captures the firm’s “focus on opportunities presented by the mega-trends of urbanisation and technological change”.
MARK manages €7.2bn in gross assets, including €4.3bn in residential and €1bn in offices, having acquired its last pure-play retail asset in 2014.
MARK will be further growing its exposure to residential with new country-specific platforms, as well as expanding into new sectors such as life sciences and digital real estate, the company said.
The manager said it also sees COVID-19 strengthening the appeal of emerging asset classes such as life sciences and digital real estate, and is actively exploring opportunities in both sectors.
Marcus Meijer, CEO of MARK, said the old branding and identity did not reflect the evolution the business has made in becoming a multi-platform investment manager with an increasingly diversified portfolio spanning multiple asset classes.
In May, the firm created a European last-mile logistics platform Crossbay to invest in €2bn worth of single-tenant assets.
In addition to Crossbay, MARK was the creator of VIA Outlets, a platform focused on premium fashion outlets, which was later acquired by APG. It also launched the Greater London focused housing development platform Meyer Homes and Promenaden, an asset management platform managing an €850m portfolio of prime properties in central Oslo.
“As MARK, we will be looking to grow our exposure to European residential real estate through new country-specific platforms. Residential has proven its resilience during this pandemic and is a sector we have an established track record in through our Meyer Homes platform as well as individual investments, Meijer said.
“We see this specialised platform approach as being the future of institutional investment into real estate, with investors wanting a clear and focused narrative around the opportunities that have been created by structural shifts in the way we live, work and shop.
“We are also seeing growing investor interest in labs and data centres, and life sciences and digital real estate are two sectors we are targeting for future expansion, as well as logistics more broadly given the success of Crossbay.”
Matthew Ammirati, chief marketing officer at MARK, said: “The new brand reflects our desire to leave a positive mark on the cities we are active in, whether that is through breathing new life into under-utilised buildings or investing into the infrastructure that makes them tick, such as last-mile logistics facilities.
“Real estate as an industry lags behind others in understanding the power and value of clear and strong branding, and this will be a major consideration for MARK as we move forward with our new platforms that will sit alongside our traditional urban value-add strategy.”
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