Slate Asset raises $572m for opportunistic real estate fund

Real assets investor Slate Asset Management has raised $572m (€494.2m) for its latest North American opportunistic real estate investment fund.

The manager said the amount raised for Slate Canadian Real Estate Opportunity Fund II (SCREO II) exceeded the fund’s initial $450m target and is almost twice the size of its predecessor vehicle.

SCREO II is backed by a diversified, global investor base consisting of equal part existing SCREO I investors and investors that are new to the Slate platform. The investors include endowments, family offices, North American pension funds, a large and reputable German public pension fund, and clients of Townsend, the manager said.

Slate Asset Management said the fund, which targets cyclical investment opportunities, portfolio acquisitions and asset repositioning and redevelopment, has completed five investments to date.

The fund’s investments include last year’s acquisition of Annaly Capital Management’s commercial real estate business for $2.33bn.

SCREO II is currently approximately 37% invested, subject to customary regulatory approvals, and has a strong pipeline of actionable deals, the manager said.

Blair Welch, a founding partner at Slate Asset Management, said the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the significant disparity between price and value in the real estate industry, creating fresh opportunities for Slate to acquire assets and portfolios at an attractive cost basis.

“Our focus on fundamental value has enabled us to capitalize on these opportunities and deliver returns that historically have outperformed benchmarks.

”We look forward to putting this fresh capital to work and leveraging our deep expertise to identify compelling investment opportunities that will create value for our investors,” Welch said.

Jerry Cain, a managing director on Slate Asset Management’s capital raising team, said: “Our ability as a firm to achieve such a successful capital raise is a testament to the confidence investors have in Slate.

”We recognise how important these relationships are to our business and look forward to deepening these partnerships as our business continues to grow.”

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