Round Hill Capital has entered the Danish build-to-rent (BTR) market with the acquisition of assets for its European core/core-plus residential fund.

The global real estate manager has invested an undisclosed amount on behalf of its European Residential Income Fund II (ERIF II) to buy a portfolio of three newly built assets in Aarhus from three investment vehicles established and managed by Pareto Securities.

Frederik Kock, equity partner and responsible for Pareto Securities’ Danish activities, said: “We are very pleased to execute this transaction with Round Hill Capital despite the challenging market conditions and the significant interest rate hikes during 2023.

”The divestment has secured our investors a satisfactory exit and underlines the strength of our focus on high-quality, modern residential assets in areas with strong underlying demographic trends.”

The portfolio comprises 324 units, with a mix of one, two-and-three-beds, across more than 21,000sqm. Two of the buildings, totaling 276 units, are located in Tilst, with the third, comprising 48 units, located in Risskov.

Michael Bickford, founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital, said: “High quality, modern residential assets with good environmental credentials, located in leading European cities with strong supply/demand fundamentals, remain a conviction asset class for Round Hill Capital.

”Securing these assets off-market at a pricing level that we consider extremely attractive in the current market, demonstrates our ability to source opportunities with strong income characteristics, while at the same time acting as a dependable buyer providing transaction certainty despite the challenging economic environment.”

The ERIF II, which was launched in 2020, already owns 1,700 residential units across Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Finland. In January last year, the fund received a further €140m from new investors in Germany and Japan. The new equity lifted ERIF II’s size up to over €340m. The fund had a €200m first close in September 2020.

CBRE, Kromann Reumert, Deloitte and COWI acted on behalf of Round Hill Capital, while Colliers, Bech Bruun, Grant Thornton and Emcon acted on behalf of the seller.

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