CBRE Investors to launch EUR 100 m Italian fund

CBRE Investors will launch a EUR 100 mln property fund next month that will focus on Italy's real estate office market, Italian newspaper Demanio RE reported on Friday. The fund will be reserved for Australian group Macquarie and its customers and will be called Macquarie Office Italy. It has already been approved by the Bank of Italy and its first acquisition is expected in September.

Italy's real estate market is attracting an increasing number of property investors seeking to take advantage of new legislation governing real estate investment trusts which were introduced in the country during the summer. Italy's SIIQ legislation, which will enable companies to avoid paying IRAP and IRES income taxes by distributing profits in the form of dividends to shareholders, was approved last July by Italy's State Council and is now being fine-tuned by the Italian finance ministry.

In August, Lehman Brothers' investment vehicle Chrysalis launched a bid for the closed-end investment fund Beta Immobiliare, which is managed by Fimit. The offer, which runs until September 21, has already been approved by Italy's stock market regulator Consob. The Beta fund owns commercial assets, mainly offices (82%) in central Italy. Last July, a bidding war erupted between Pirelli RE, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch for two office funds managed by Pirelli RE. The battle for control of Tecla and Berenice ended with Pirelli RE taking over Tecla's units while Goldman Sachs seems to be the favoured party for Berenice's. Additionally, France's Fonciere des Regions, which bought a 68% stake last July in Italy's Beni Stabili, said it intends to convert the Italian group to a real estate investment trust 'as soon as possible'.