BNPPRE lifts equity take for second European office fund to €320m

BNP Paribas Real Estate has raised a further €170 mln at the second closing of its second pan-European office investment fund.

Next Estate Income Fund II has raised €320 mln in equity to date from pension funds and insurance companies based in France, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Ireland. With leverage, this gives the vehicle an investment capacity of over €500 mln.

The fund aims to reach a target investment capacity of €800 mln at final closing, which is expected for the second quarter of 2016. It has recently bought office assets totaling €150 mln in Düsseldorf and Lyon and is also finalising a new deal in Milan.

'This new closing demonstrates the pan-European expertise of the Investment Management business line at BNP Paribas Real Estate and its ability to pool institutional investors from different countries together to offer them a truly diversified geographic exposure,' said BNPPRE's Henri Romnicianu.

The fund is looking for high-quality assets in major office markets in the Eurozone with the aim to deliver a robust income with low volatility, added fund Advisor Laurent Boissin. 'We are currently looking at the major German cities as well as the Paris Region, Luxembourg, Brussels, Amsterdam, Madrid and Milan.'

BNPPRE raised €150 mln of equity commitments at the first closing for NEIF 2 in June 2014.

The vehicle focuses exclusively on offices and aims to achieve a 5% distribution every year. Last month it bought the Blue Duo office scheme in Düsseldorf from Nordrheinische Ärzteversorgung, the North Rhine-Westphalia doctors’ pension fund.

It is the successor fund of NEIF, which has invested a total of €300 mln in two DGNB Silver-labelled buildings in Germany, an HQE building in Paris and more recently, two buildings in Milan and a building in Brussels.