Bain Capital has entered exclusive negotiations with local developer Borio Mangiarotti and Borio’s parent company Värde Partners to buy into a €200 mln residential development project in Milan, PropertyEU has learned.
US private equity group Bain Capital is believed to have emerged ahead of underbidders Oaktree Capital and Orion Capital Managers in the run to buy a stake in the so-called Trotto San Siro development site which is owned by local developer Borio Mangiarotti and indirectly by Borio’s parent company, Värde.
The deal – Bain Capital’s first major residential investment in Italy - is the latest acquisition by US private equity group in the country. Over the past two years Bain spent over €500 mln in three major acquisitions largely in the office sector.
PropertyEU reported earlier this month that Borio and Värde appointed Imi Intesa Sanpaolo as advisors to find a new financial partner which would invest alongside Borio in the project.
The 45,000-m2 site is expected to see the development of a total of 600 apartments for a total planned investment of €200 mln.
It is part of the larger Trotto San Siro development area encompassing a total of 145,000 m2. A 100,000 m2 portion of this area is being developed into new affordable housing by US private developer-investor Hines, which bought its stake last year through the Invictur fund managed by Prelios sgr.
Värde and Borio are also together in the development of the major SeiMilano site encompassing 300,000 m2 to the south-west of Milan. Earlier this year the two owners sold the second residential lot of SeiMilan which consists of 53,000 m2 of multifamily rental apartments to Invesco Real Estate for around €155 mln.
Orion, one of the two underbidders on the Trotto San Siro site, is also involved in the Seimilano development, having acquired the 30,000 m2 office section of the project for its Fund V from Borio Mangiarotti and Värde Partners back in 2019.
Bain in Italy
Bain has grown aggressively in Italy in recent years, swooping in particular on a number of toxic portfolios. The US giant entered the country's non-performing loans market in 2017 with the acquisition of Heta Asset Resolution Italia (Harit), the bad bank of Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank, including assets worth €570 mln.
In 2019, Bain signed the acquisition of nearly €500 mln of assets in Italy. It bought €200 mln of property assets from Italian lender Banca Popolare di Vicenza (BPVI) in administration. The deal – Bain’s first direct property transaction in Italy - took the form of a share transaction involving Immobiliare Stampa, the property arm of BPVI, which was put into administration in June 2017.
It also acquired a portfolio of eight value-add properties in Northern Italy from French listed giant Covivio for between €140 mln and €150 mln.
Last year Bain also closed the acquisition of a portfolio of five office properties in Italy from two Amundi funds for €94 mln.
Bain Capital Credit has acquired and managed over 3,500 Italian real estate assets with a total value in excess of €4 bn through its investments in both the real estate and distressed markets.
