Global alternative investment manager Ares Management Corporation has announced the final closing of Ares European Property Enhancement Partners III SCSp (EPEP III) at €1.5 bn of commitments.
The final close was 50% higher than its €1 bn target, making it more than twice the size of its 2016 predecessor fund.
The fund’s value-add strategy focuses on acquiring institutional-quality, income-producing assets that have the potential for value enhancement.
EPEP III invests across key property types in Europe’s largest and most liquid markets and has over 30% of its capital deployed.
To date, the fund’s investment activity has been focused on logistics and residential, which are currently Ares’ highest conviction real estate sectors.
Bill Benjamin, partner and head of the Ares Real Estate Group, said: 'We are pleased with the enthusiastic support that we have received from both existing and new investors in the successor of our European Property Enhancement fund series, and we recognise that much of this has been driven by the positive results demonstrated by the predecessor funds.
'We believe that the experience of our real estate team, our local market presence in Europe for over 25 years, as well as our positioning within the broader Ares platform delivers significant competitive advantages in our ability to source and execute compelling deal flow for the Fund and for our investors.'
'We are seeing a rapidly evolving opportunity set driven by the start of a new business cycle and unprecedented changes in real estate user preferences fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic,' said Wilson Lamont, partner and co-head of European Real Estate Equity in the Ares Real Estate Group.
'We are encouraged by the investments that we have capitalized on to date and look forward to continuing to leverage our capabilities to source a portfolio of opportunities where we see attractive secular tailwinds,' Lamont added.
The fund garnered significant demand from incumbent and new investors from Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East, including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, foundations, family offices and private banks.
