Pan-European investment manager Internos Global Investors has announced the first close of the Internos Core European (ICE) Balanced fund, having secured capital commitments of €135 mln.
The capital came from six institutional clients of Townsend Group, which include insurance companies and public and private sector pension funds based in Europe and Asia.
'The launch of ICE Balanced marks a transformational moment for Internos. Since our launch in 2008, we have built a high-quality platform with strength and depth across Europe’s major geographical real estate markets in both traditional and specialist asset classes,' commented Andrew Thornton (pictured), CEO of Internos Global Investors. 'We now have six funds actively investing across Europe.'
With a target gross asset value of €2 bn over five years, the fund‘s maiden acquisition is a €200 mln investment in a seed portfolio comprising nine properties including seven office assets, one logistics asset and one mixed use asset. The properties are located in France (4), Italy (2), Germany (1), Spain (1) and the Netherlands (1).
An open-ended special alternative investment fund (AIF), ICE Balanced is targeting total returns of 8% by creating a portfolio of commercial real estate assets across major metropolitan markets in Europe and the United Kingdom. The fund will invest predominantly in office, retail, logistics and industrial assets with up to 20% allocated to more specialist property asset classes.
Giles Smith, head of fund management at Internos Global Investors, added: 'With our first acquisition complete, the team is now working on a pipeline of single asset and portfolio acquisitions, sourced according to the fundamentals of the assets, micro-locations and local occupier markets.'
