Finnish insurer Ilmarinen said on Friday that it has entered into a strategic partnership with New York Life Insurance Company to invest in US real estate on the long term.
Ilmarinen and its business partner have made their first acquisition comprising a total of six office properties in Boston, Washington D.C., Charlotte, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Orange County for around $620 mln (€530 mln).
The companies aim to roughly double the volume of the joint venture’s real estate investments in the coming years.
'The purchased properties represent a geographically diversified portfolio in growing metropolitan areas on both the East and West Coast of the United States. Our investments will focus on office properties that are technically sound and functionally modern with good occupancy rates,' said Mikko Antila, Ilmarinen’s portfolio manager in charge of international real estate investments.
Ilmarinen’s share of the joint venture is 49% and New York Life’s is 51%. New York Life Real Estate Investors, a division of NYL Investors, is responsible for the management of the joint venture.
New York Life is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and manages more than $534 bn in investment assets, including over $51 bn in real estate assets.
'The strategic partnership with a traditional and respected institutional investor offers us a strong foundation to expand our investments in US real estate markets. The partnership offers us deep insight into local commercial property markets,' added Antila.
Ilmarinen owns roughly €4.4 bn of real estate assets, 16% of which abroad. The company aims to increase its exposure to international real estate in the next few years. It has so far invested in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as made acquisitions in the US housing market and bought an office property in the greater Washington D.C. area.
