European retail specialist Mitiska REIM has revealed that fundraising for its third flagship fund, Mitiska European Real Estate Partners 3 (MEREP 3), has now reached €168 mln.
The fund has already closed three investments since the beginning of this year, representing a third of capital raised so far.
Sylvie Geuten-Carpentier, managing partner at Mitiska, comments: 'We are very pleased with the strong investor interest and support for MEREP 3 from both existing and new investors.
'The current market conditions play to the strengths of specialised value-add investors such as Mitiska REIM, and we have built a substantial pipeline of additional investment opportunities across retail parks, urban logistics, multi-let light industrial and self storage as we move towards further closings of the fund.'
MEREP 3 continues its focus on the accelerating opportunity in convenience real estate across Europe, targeting food-anchored retail parks, last-mile urban logistics, multi-let light industrial and self storage opportunities.
MEREP 3’s investment strategy targets light to heavy value-add investments, including repositioning, reconfiguring and retrofitting of existing properties and de-risked development projects. The fund plans further fundraising and additional closings over the next 12 months.
Axel Despriet, managing partner at Mitiska REIM, added: 'The evidence from many past economic cycles has shown that volatility and times of high market stress can create opportunities for investors with the requisite market knowledge.
'We think this is especially true for value-add strategies – by keeping dry powder during volatile times, we continue to find significant success in making off-market acquisitions of both properties and portfolios at attractive pricing.'
MEREP 3 has so far closed three investments. These include the acquisition of Europa Centralna, a retail park with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 67,000 m2 in Gliwice, Poland, and the joint venture with OPC to roll out retail parks in Slovakia, which has commenced with the acquisition of a retail park in Skalica and a development project in Sládkovicovo.
In addition, as part of Mitiska REIM’s joint venture partnership with Storo, the MEREP 3 fund has acquired self storage facilities in the Belgian cities of Mechelen and Roeselare, with plans to roll out the innovative Storo concept in Belgium and other European markets in the coming years.
