Merger talks between Italy's second largest real estate fund manager Fondi Immobiliari Italiani (Fimit) and peer First Atlantic Real Estate are progressing well, with the final agreement expected to be signed in the near future, First Atlantic Real Estate's CEO Daniel Buaron told PropertyEU this week.
Merger talks between Italy's second largest real estate fund manager Fondi Immobiliari Italiani (Fimit) and peer First Atlantic Real Estate are progressing well, with the final agreement expected to be signed in the near future, First Atlantic Real Estate's CEO Daniel Buaron told PropertyEU this week.
'Negotiations are going forward and we hope to close the operation by the end of the year,' Buaron said.
First Atlantic Real Estate, the real estate fund management arm of Milan-listed private equity investment group Dea Capital, announced in June that it had signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a merger with Fimit. The move will create Italy's largest real estate asset management group, with over EUR 8 bn of assets and 19 funds under management, five of which are listed.
The announcement follows the decision by Fimit to suspend its merger talks with Pirelli RE's asset management arm earlier this year. In January the two companies announced that the operation 'was not compatible in timing' with Pirelli RE's development plan, and with the reorganisation process at Fimit. Pirelli RE has since been rebranded as Prelios.
The new entity would be owned by the shareholders of Fimit and Fare Holding, which is controlled by Dea Capital. In 2008, Dea bought a 70% stake in First Atlantic Real Estate SGR, which manages a total of six funds, with assets of around EUR 3 bn.