REAL ESTATE - Rutley Capital Partners, the private equity arm of estate agency Knight Frank, is to float its European investment fund on the London Stock Exchange this month to raise funds for its planned £600m (€890m) property portfolio.
The Guernsey-based closed-end fund expects the flotation to raise £200m of a £450m target asset pool, including debt.
The firm created the fund in February with the specific aim of bringing it to market. Although it was initially designed for private investors, a spokesman said the fund had attracted "interest from pockets of demand" – notably pension funds. The firm expects institutions to make up between 30—40% of investors in the floated company.
To date the fund has acquired or committed to acquire 12 properties in German and Poland.
The balance will be made up of real estate assets in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, and Central Europe. Office and industrial – especially warehousing – in Poland and the Czech Republic looked "compelling", the spokesman said. The proportion of assets in Russia "will be small, if there are any".
The fund plans to list on 16 November.