Corestate raises EUR 500m for German residential fund

Zurich-based Corestate Capital said on Tuesday it has raised EUR 486mln from institutional investors for its real estate fund, Corestate German Residential. The investment vehicle targets direct and indirect investments in German residential property for a total volume of around EUR 2bn. According to a company statement, approximately 50% of the EUR 2bn target portfolio has already been acquired. The fund runs until 2014 and its main investors are large, globally active institutions such as ING of the Netherlands, Morley of the UK and Goodman of Australia, the Swiss private equity investor and asset manager said.

'Most of our investors are acknowledged real estate specialists who on the whole invest directly in property assets themselves - which makes us all the more appreciative of the confidence placed in Corestate as a fund and property asset manager. This is especially the case because - despite the subprime crisis - many of our investors very quickly increased their investment allocations to the fund, facilitating our successful capital raise,' said chairman Ralph Winter.

Winter added that a further EUR 600mln is to be invested in German residential properties this year. 'We are continuing our tried-and-tested strategy of acquiring residential portfolios throughout Germany for between EUR 5-50 million via our dedicated, local sourcing platform. This enables us to acquire assets predominantly offmarket, and avoid often expensive bidding processes.'

Bank Citi acted as placement agent.