Redevco and Ares Management launch €500m Iberian retail JV

Redevco, the pan-European retail real estate specialist, and funds managed by Ares Management are setting up a €500 mln retail real estate joint venture in Spain and Portugal.

Dubbed Redevco Iberian Ventures, the new vehicle will invest in shopping centres, retail parks and high street properties in the two countries.

Redevco Iberian Ventures will be seeded with a combination of assets in the Iberian peninsula from funds managed by Redevco and Ares that have a combined value of approximately €110 mln. Redevco will manage the joint venture and its assets.

Commenting on the new partnership, Redevco CEO Andrew Vaughan said it was an important step for the company to build its third-party real estate investment management business. 'We have highly experienced teams on the ground throughout Europe to maximise the value of our unique retail property platform for investors and retailers alike. We’ve been looking to join up with like-minded investors who share our values and investment horizons. Ares is a natural partner in this respect.'

Bill Benjamin, Partner of the Ares Real Estate Group and Head of European Real Estate, said the venture is 'well-positioned to tap into the significant value-add and opportunistic investment opportunities' the company has been seeing in this resurgent market.

Ares Management is a global alternative asset manager with around $10 bn of real estate assets under management as of June 30, 2015 and more than 15 offices in the US, Europe and Asia. It has invested in Europe for the past two decades and has been particularly active in mainland Europe in the last 12 months. At the beginning of this year, the Chicago-based company announced it had raised $1.3 bn (€1.1 bn) at final closing for a new European commercial real estate fund with a value-add/opportunistic risk profile.

In August, the New York-listed company reached agreement on the acquisition of a 240,000 m2 multi-country office portfolio from IVG Institutional Funds. The portfolio is valued at more than €400 mln and consists of 30 properties located across six European countries, including the UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland and Spain.

In March, Ares purchased a German package of 303 residential and 28 commercial units, totalling 22,000 m2 of lettable space, from a fund managed by Norway-based Obligo Investment Management.

Redevco is an independent, pan-European real estate investment management company with €6.6 bn in retail property. The company's 420 assets under management are spread across the strongest retail concentrations in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Ares is a publicly traded, leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $88 bn of assets under management as of June 30, 2015 and more than 15 offices in the US, Europe and Asia.