Oxford Properties has exchanged on the acquisition of pan-European investment and asset manager M7 Real Estate.
The property arm of Canadian pension fund giant OMERS began talks to buy M7 in Q4 2020 as a route to speeding up its capital deployment into European logistics. Oxford has circa C$80 bn in real estate around the world compared to M7’s €4 bn under management.
M7 invests across property asset classes but is known as a light industrial and distribution specialist and a core-plus or value-add investor focused on higher-yielding assets. It has 225 staff operating in 14 countries, managing more than 620 different properties and is majority owned by senior management.
Oxford Properties is targeting an increase in the proportion of its European logistics assets from 5% to 20%. It had previously stated its intention to deploy £3 bn into the sector in Europe.
M7’s founders, who include executive chairman Richard Croft, CEO David Ebbrell, COO Teresa Dyer, Andrew Jenkins and Hugh Fraser, began a search for a sale of the business in 2019 when Eastdil was appointed to advise. M7‘s two minority investors from Hong Kong, the Kwok family and TTB Partners, are also selling.
A statement says that the M7 business will continue to operate under the day-to-day management of the current leadership team, led by Croft and Ebbrell.
The acquisition is conditional on receipt of regulatory approval, with completion expected in H1 this year.
Jo McNamara, Executive Vice President, Europe at Oxford Properties, commented: ‘M7 is a market-leading platform, led by a highly ambitious and entrepreneurial management team that has deep-rooted expertise in the sector, through which we intend to significantly expand and accelerate our investment in this asset class across Europe.’
Croft said: ‘This transaction provides us with the support and resources of a significant global real estate investor which shares both our entrepreneurial ethos and our strong ambition to grow the M7 business substantially over the next few years to create a truly world-class industrial-focused asset and investment management platform.’
