Internos buys loss-making GPT Halverton for EUR2

Internos Real Investors said on Monday it has acquired GPT Halverton (GPTH), the European property fund management arm of Australian real estate investment trust The GPT Group, for the nominal sum of EUR 2. Internos said the price reflected GPTH's current loss-making position and the ongoing funding requirements of the restructuring programme currently underway. The company will be transferred to Internos with additional working capital of EUR 7 mln, Internos said.

GPTH, with offices in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt and Luxemburg, employs around 100 people and manages some EUR 1.7 bn of gross assets in five funds and two separate account mandates in Germany and the Netherlands. The acquisition will provide Internos with a substantial and established European platform.

GPT announced its intention to divest its European fund management business in August this year and has subsequently undertaken an extensive disposal process culminating in exclusive negotiations with Internos.

'We are delighted to have been able to acquire an existing fund management platform at such an opportune time. GPTH brings with it experience and unparalleled relationships with the key investors, debt providers and market players in the major European markets,' said Jos Short, founding partner of Internos.

Jonathan Johnstone, head of Europe at GPT, added: 'We were searching for a bidder who would preserve the business in the short term and return it to growth.'

Internos Real Investors was launched in 2008 by Jos Short and Andrew Thornton, with the objective of locating, investing in and managing real estate opportunities and funds throughout Europe for institutional investors.