Cornerstone nearly doubles European AuM to €3.3b in 2015

Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers Europe carried out over $1.5 bn (€1.4 bn) of transactions in 2015, bringing its assets under management on the continent to €3.3 bn.

Over the year the company completed its European investment and asset management platform build-out with several senior management appointments and the opening of new offices in Paris, Madrid and Milan.

Cornerstone now has 13 offices across eight European countries, and the headcount in Europe rose by 19% during 2015, taking the total number of employees to over 100.

In terms of transactional activity, the largest acquisitions included the €94 mln purchase of the Davidson Building, a 44,161 sq ft office building located in London's Covent Garden, as well as the purchase of three light industrial sites, comprising 48,000 m2 across the UK, for £31.6 mln.

Disposals features the sale of 40 Gracechurch Street, London, for £136.15 mln. Cornerstone acquired the property for £94 mln in 2013 and sold it on having leased the 50% of vacant space.

Charles Weeks, CEO of Cornerstone Europe, said: 'Cornerstone Europe reached a milestone in 2015 with the build out of our European platform serving multiple pan-European mandates. Clients tell us that they want specialists: local knowledge combined within a pan-European and/or global approach to investing.'