Pan-European property investment and asset-management specialist BMO Real Estate Partners (BMO REP) has secured €250 mln in equity commitments for Best Value Europe II (BVE II).
The open-ended fund has a target equity of €600 mln and €1 bn in gross asset value, with the eight investments to date delivering a portfolio GAV totalling €233 mln.
Like its predecessor, BVE II focuses on selective, prime high street retail properties within top tier or dominant European cities that benefit from strong tourism, high footfall and 'deep international retailer markets'.
Through the acquisition of luxury, mass-market, premium and restaurant assets, and additional portfolio diversification by geography, the fund is already distributing 4% per annum, BMO said.
The most recent investments in Paris, acquired for a total of €36 mln, are 42 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, which is leased to Calvin Klein, and 1 Rue de la Michodiere, a restaurant acquired from French actor Gerard Depardieu, where a new 10-year lease has been agreed with the prestigious Moma Group who will launch a new fine dining concept in the premises.
The fund has a further €100 mln of properties in exclusivity and set to complete before the end of the year, including in Milan, Copenhagen and Madrid.
'We are continuing to see strong occupier demand for prime retail locations in top cities, which benefit from above average economic growth, strong tourism levels and affluent footfall,' said Ian Kelley, fund director Europe at BMO Real Estate Partners.
'We have delivered a circa 15% NAV increase since BVE II’s inception and, with an exciting pipeline of potential investments in place, we look forward to announcing a number of new acquisitions before the end of the year as we continue to grow the portfolio,' Kelley concluded.
