Italian investment and fund manager Castello has acquired RREEF's Italian property fund business, RREEF Fondimmobiliari, adding nearly EUR 500 mln to its assets under management.
Italian investment and fund manager Castello has acquired RREEF's Italian property fund business, RREEF Fondimmobiliari, adding nearly EUR 500 mln to its assets under management.
In exchange for the funds, Deutsche Bank's RREEF Real Estate has received a 10% share in Castello Sgr as well as a mandate for the asset management of the vehicles through its RREEF Opportunities Management Srl unit, the companies said in a joint statement.
RREEF Fondimmobiliari manages EUR 473 mln worth of assets for retail and institutional investors. Its funds include the listed Valore Immobiliare Globale and Piramide Globale under liquidation, as well as the RREEF Express Real Estate Fund, Elettra, Lioness and Rutenio for institutional investors.
'With this operation we increase our assets under management which we expect to reach EUR 1.7 bn by the end of 2012,' said Giampiero Schiavo, CEO of Castello SGR. 'We bring forward our development strategy aimed at creating a critical mass enabling us to optimise activities and to capture the opportunities that the market will offer.'
'The Italian real estate market remains an interesting business for us and we want to continue to invest in it,' added Gianluca Muzzi, head of RREEF Real Estate Europe ex-Germany. Castello was advised by law firm Legance. Freshfield acted for RREEF Real Estate.
Castello manages six real estate funds - Augusto, Clesio, Cosimo I, Giotto, Picasso and Energheia, representing AUM of around EUR 850 mln.
