Carlyle raises EUR 2.2b for 3rd European fund

Global private equity firm Carlyle said on Tuesday that it has raised equity of EUR 2.2bn for the third closing of its European real estate fund, Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners III (CEREP III). The raised equity far exceeded the initial target of EUR 1.5bn, underscoring the ongoing strong demand for pan-European real estate investment vehicles, Carlyle said. It added that the fund has already committed to EUR 715mln worth of acquisitions across 10 assets.

'Investors prefer to invest in vehicles where they can achieve focused asset class and pan-European geographic diversity through a single fund, rather than on a country-by-country basis,' said Eric Sasson, head of Carlyle's real estate operations in Europe.

With leverage, the fund will have a warchest of EUR 9bn to invest across Europe. It will invest in several asset classes, including office, residential, hotel, retail, logistics, and industrial property as well as mid-size corporate transactions and debt-based instruments. The vehicle recently bought two office buildings (132,000 m2) in Stockholm; two assets in Copenhagen (207,000 m2); a 16,000 m² office in Stuttgart, Germany; a portfolio of 30 properties from Tapiola in Finland; six assets in France with a total 252,000 m² of space (five office buildings, one shopping centre) and three assets in Spain providing some 74,000 m² of mixed-use space.

The Carlyle Group manages $10.8bn through 10 real estate funds across the world, including $3.4bn of assets under management in Europe. Carlyle invests in all real estate asset classes, with a concentration on office, retail, hotel and residentail property across Western and Central Europe. Carlyle's two previous European funds, CEREP I and CEREP II, have invested a total EUR 1.8bn in 65 assets since 2001. The firm's strategy is to identify real estate assets of more than EUR 25mln where there is strong potential for value creation.