Norwegian investor Industrifinans is switching its focus to residential property again after concentrating on German commercial real estate for the past three years. ‘We are working on the launch of a new Berlin residential fund, Selection II, which will hopefully have a spending power of up to EUR 200 mln,’ said managing director Einar Skierven in an interview with PropertyEU during Expo Real.
Norwegian investor Industrifinans is switching its focus to residential property again after concentrating on German commercial real estate for the past three years. ‘We are working on the launch of a new Berlin residential fund, Selection II, which will hopefully have a spending power of up to EUR 200 mln,’ said managing director Einar Skierven in an interview with PropertyEU during Expo Real.
The company, which entered the German market in 2005 with the launch of the EUR 55 mln Selection I residential property fund, has since built up a EUR 400 mln portfolio in the country, mostly consisting of commercial assets (EUR 260 mln). But Skierven says the Frankfurt-based group is now ‘going back to the starting point’ with the launch of a new residential investment vehicle which is set to take advantage of a forecast increase in market rents and a lack of supply.
‘We reported a 15% increase on average for our expired rents across our housing portfolio last year. This gives an indication of the pace of growth in the Berlin market, which is Europe’s largest residential sector,’ Skierven said. ‘Our aim is to raise between EUR 60 and EUR 100 mln in the next 12 months, which with leverage will lift the fund’s warchest to EUR 200 mln.’
Selection II - dedicated to high net worth individuals - is targeting an annual dividend of 5% and an Internal Rate of Return of 8%. It will be distributed through private agents or medium-sized private banks.
