Invesco Real Estate, the €84 bn global real estate investment business of Invesco, has made two further transactions for its recently launched European real estate debt fund.
The fund, Invesco Commercial Mortgage Income – Europe (CMI Europe), has agreed to lend £28 mln (€32 mln) via a whole loan secured against a portfolio of five purpose-built self-storage assets in the West Midlands in the UK encompassing 293,150 ft2. The assets are high-quality, modern, newly-built stores with strong ESG credentials, rating between BREEAM Excellent or Very Good, and EPC Ratings of either A or B.
In addition, the fund has delivered a £30 mln whole loan secured against a seed portfolio of multi-let, light urban industrial assets located in separate locations across London. The 50,000 ft2 initial portfolio is to be let to catering and delivery tenants, known as ‘dark kitchens’. The sponsor and operator has an existing portfolio of similar assets.
Launched in June this year, CMI Europe is a Luxembourg-domiciled, open-ended fund primarily backed by insurance capital.
Its strategy is to lend against sustainable assets with prime ESG characteristics.
The inaugural transaction was a senior loan facility to finance a pipeline of six French and three Spanish logistics facilities, all pre-let to one of the world’s largest online retailers.
Andrew Gordon, MD of fund management at Invesco Real Estate, said: ‘By carefully financing the right assets, we believe that European real estate debt can offer a safe yet significant return for investors as the market prepares for the possibility of higher inflationary pressures for longer.’
‘We favour lending opportunities to sectors and niches which could provide market resilience given the prospect of a prolonged inflationary environment. These include traditional sectors in core locations, where only the most sought-after properties will be in a position to achieve rent increases in line with inflation. Demanding high ESG standards for all collateral is key to achieving this.'
