BNP Paribas REIM has announced the launch of a new fund named Afer Pierre as well as the acquisition of the first three assets for the vehicle, for a total investment of €80 mln.
Afer Pierre is backed by the French Savings and Pension Association as well as insurer Abeille Assurances (formerly Aviva France). The fund will mostly target directly-owned real estate (around 70%), along with a minor exposure to indirect investments in SCPI, retail OPCI and property company shares (around 30%).
It aims to offer broad diversification in terms of asset type with a portfolio composed of offices, residential, logistics platforms and street-level shops. The diversification will also be offered in terms of location, with investments mainly targeted in France but in other European countries as well, such as Germany and BeNeLux. Afer Pierre aims to achieve an annualised return of around 4% over a 10-year holding period.
The fund has already bought two multi-tenant office buildings: one located at 9 rue Henri Martin in Boulogne-Billancourt, with a surface area of about 3,400 m2 and 90% rented; the other, Heron Building, with a surface area of about 6,400 m2, fully rented out and located in Lyon’s Vaise area.
Outside its home market, the fund acquired a logistics platform of 21,000 m2 under construction near Eindhoven in the Netherlands. It is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2022 and is already fully pre-leased under a long-term lease.
‘We are delighted to have won this call for bids and to be working closely with an association as prominent as Afer. The creation of the Afer Pierre fund demonstrates our expertise and know-how by offering investors access to a widely diversified portfolio in terms of both location – with the support of our field teams in different European countries – and asset type,’ said Fabrice Violot, Commercial director for BNP Paribas REIM France.
