A flagship fund from Catella Residential Investment Management (CRIM), a subsidiary of Sweden's Catella, has raised €90 mln in one day to focus on the rapidly growing living sector.
Catella European Residential I (CER I) was launched in 2007 as the first institutional property fund to invest specifically in residential assets across European markets, Catella said. Asset manager CRIM will place the capital in new living segments in France and Spain, and extend the fund’s geographical reach to additional markets like Austria, the firm said.
'The CER I fund was trail-blazing when it was launched by the Catella team, because it was the first vehicle to exploit the investment opportunities in cross-border European residential markets,' said Michael Fink, Managing director CRIM.
'Now the collective Catella residential funds represent the largest European investment platform in the broader real estate living sector, which could be poised to overtake offices in the near future as the biggest investment market of all,' Fink added.
The fund already invests across six European countries and is to add senior housing and micro-living/student accommodation to further diversify its existing portfolio. CER I has a total of €1.3 bn assets under management and has produced average annual total investment returns of 8.0% since its inception over a decade ago.
CER I has already closed on a first deal under the recent capital raise with the acquisition of a €17 mln building, comprising 98 affordable senior housing apartments, in Reigner, a suburb of Geneva. This transaction was executed in collaboration with Paris-based BEREAL Investment Management, which will also be the property’s asset manager.
