Cordea Savills to launch EUR 1bn Turkish opportunity fund

European real estate fund manager Cordea Savills said on Wednesday that it plans to launch a EUR 1bn Turkish opportunity fund. The Cordea Savills Turkish Property Ventures Fund will be a Luxembourg FCP vehicle with a planned life of five years. The fund will seek returns of 20% per annum and a target equity of EUR 400mln, with leverage of 60% loan-to-cost.

The fund will invest in development opportunities with a target return of 20% per annum. The focus will be on shopping centre and residential projects. On completion of the developments, the fund value is projected to be in the region of EUR 1bn.

Ian Jones, director of investment at Cordea Savills and portfolio manager for the fund, commented: 'The Turkish Property Ventures Fund will offer exposure to a large and dynamic economy characterised by high GDP growth and a young and growing population with increased spending power. There is a dramatic shortage of quality stock in all sectors and strong demand from some household name companies for retail outlets. Turkey is still an emerging market but by partnering with local developers we will tap into local expertise and mitigate substantially the development risk.'

At end-December 2007, Cordea Savills managed EUR 4.7bn of gross assets for a range of clients including pension funds, fund of funds, charities and professional investors.