BNP Paribas Real Estate has raised over €500 mln at the final closing of its second pan-European office investment fund, NEIF II.
'This very successful final closing strengthens the international profile of the Fund with investors coming from the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, Italy, and Spain,' commented Henri Romnicianu, head of Capital Raising for pan-European funds. 'The NEIF funds perfectly meet the requirements of pension funds and insurance companies looking for income-driven strategies. Core European investments continue to present attractive investment opportunities particularly against the current uncertain economic background.'
The fund, which invests in brand-new or recently-built properties in the key Eurozone office markets, has already deployed around half of its capital with several acquisitions in Paris, Luxembourg, Dublin and Milan.
With leverage, this gives the vehicle an investment capacity of over €800 mln, according to fund advisor Laurent Boissin.
BNPPRE raised €150 mln of equity commitments at the first closing for NEIF 2 in June 2014 and a total of €320 mln at second closing in November last year.
The vehicle focuses exclusively on offices and aims to achieve a 5% distribution every year.
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.
BNPPRE is already preparing the launchf of NEIF 3, according to Barbara Knoflach, global head of investment management. ‘It will have a similar investment remit to NEIF 2, although it will likely be bigger, at around €1 bn, including gearing,' she recently told PropertyEU.
