Protego launches EUR 1.65 bn Nordic retail fund

Protego RE Investors has launched the Nordic Retail Fund after having raised EUR 517 mln of equity at first closing from sixteen institutional investors across Europe. Protego and retail asset manager EFM have also co-invested. The property fund manager said it commenced formal marketing of the fund in March 2007, with a targeted minimum capital increase of EUR 215 mln. The fund was launched in a joint venture with EFM Sverige. It has an initial portfolio of circa EUR 585 mln, including 11 shopping centres, located in Sweden and Finland, is a core plus Euro-denominated fund. It invests in a diversified portfolio of retail assets, across the four major Nordic economies of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. With gearing, total funds available for investment will come to EUR 1.65 bn.

Protego also announced that it has made its first acquisition outside the initial portfolio, with the purchase of the Rosengard Centrum mall in Sweden, for SEK 450 mln (EUR 48 mln), representing an initial yield of around 5.8%. Protego, which will be opening an office in Stockholm to help service the fund and oversee all the investment-related activities, while EFM will be responsible for asset, property and facilities management. This is the second joint venture between Protego and EFM. Last September, Protego and EFM launched the UK Actively Managed Shopping Centre Fund, which currently has eight institutional investors from the UK and Europe.

Peter de Haas, managing director at Protego, said: 'The current interest in the Nordic region is borne out by the success of this capital increase. This success is from a standing start three years ago, when we started the business, and clearly demonstrates our ongoing ambition to create a high-quality pan-European property fund management business.' Protego, with offices in London and Rotterdam, was launched in April 2004 and now has total assets under management exceeding EUR 3 bn.