Opportunistic European investor Rivercrown has sold out of its biggest deal in Lisbon at a profit within 18 months of investing.
The London-based investment and advisory firm headed by corporate financier Jacob Lyons and Stephen Benson sold seven offices and one site to a Singaporean listed fund. The price for the 41,283 m2 Maxirent portfolio is believed to be approximately €120 mln.
Rivercrown acquired the assets by buying the units in listed, closed-ended Portuguese fund Maxirent in September 2019. As part of the same deal, Rivercrown bought Refundos, the fund’s management company which it will keep to continue managing the portfolio and to look for more deals.
Stephen Benson, managing director of Rivercrown, said: 'We acquired our holding in Maxirent as we saw opportunities to create value through a number of initiatives including leasing and planning gains which we realised through the period of our ownership.
'The buyer will benefit from the prime nature of the fund’s assets - stable income and further yield compression. Portugal remains firmly on our radar as an attractive place to do business.'
It is thought that Rivercrown and Refundos were able to execute their business plan faster than expected and were approached to sell the assets. They were advised by Uría Menéndez and CBRE.
Benson said he hoped to find more transactions via acquiring stakes in small and mid-cap listed companies and funds. Rivercrown sees dislocation between pricing of small, sub-scale public companies and private markets as a way of picking up defensive, good quality assets at better value.
Maxirent had a gross asset value of €100 mln and comprised nine assets when Rivercrown acquired the portfolio.
The seven core and core-plus offices sold include: Rua Das Chagas 7, in Chiado, Lisbon’s historic riverfront district; additional prime properties Fontes Pereira De Melo 7 and Fontes Pereira De Melo 27, close to Lisbon’s Saldanha Square in the city’s CBD, comprising 7,696 m2 and 3,620 m2 respectively; and Edifico Prime, a 7,975 m2 office property in Lisbon’s Alfragide district popular with multinationals.
Cidade De Córdova and Estrada De Alfragide are two office buildings also in the Alfragide district that are part of the deal and are 7,846 sqm and 1,046 sqm in size respectively. The land plot overlooks the Ribeira Palace and the River Tagus.
Last month opportunistic investment manager Orion Capital Managers bought a 37,000 m2 office project in the Portuguese capital, called Multiusos do Oriente, located in Parque das Nações. Although the price was not disclosed, vendor BCP valued the project late last year at €46.4 mln.
