German fund manager Caerus Debt Investments has raised €70 mln of equity at first closing for its debt fund, Caerus Real Estate Debt Lux SICAV-SIF-Fund I.

German fund manager Caerus Debt Investments has raised €70 mln of equity at first closing for its debt fund, Caerus Real Estate Debt Lux SICAV-SIF-Fund I.

Gothaer, one of the major German insurance groups, has committed €50 mln to the fund, which already had Swiss private bank Reichmuth & Co. among its cornerstone investors.

'This means we have achieved a volume of €70 mln at the first closing, which we now want to invest as soon as possible,' said Michael Morgenroth, CEO of Caerus Debt Investments. 'Institutional investors are increasingly discovering real estate debt as an attractive asset class for their portfolios'

The debt fund, which has been established under Luxembourg law, has a target volume of €300 mln and concentrates on real estate financing with loan-to-value (LTV) ratios of between 50 and 80%. The regional focus is on German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), although financing in Benelux countries will also be considered.

The fund can be subscribed from a minimum investment amount of €10 mln upwards; the distributed return target is 6-7% per annum.

Caerus was created last year from the management buy-out of Signa Real Estate Advisory. Based in Düsseldorf, the firm specialises in debt and is led by Michael Morgenroth as CEO and Patrick Züchner as CIO.