International property investment manager Savills Investment Management has announced that its Italian real estate sale & leaseback Mercury Fund, established on behalf of Italian grocer Conad, has attracted a further €183 mln of new investment.
Investors in the fund include three consortia of Conad, the largest consortium of independent retailers in Italy (Conad Adriatico, Conad Centro Nord and Conad Tirreno), and Gruppo Cattolica Assicurazioni, an Italian insurance company.
Conad CentroNord has increased its portfolio in the Fund by adding €33 mln of properties, while Conad Tirreno has transferred €20 mln and committed to transferring a further €130 mln of its new development pipeline over the next two years. The average tenures of the leases in place is 20-plus years.
'The rationale of our Mercury platform is to provide investors with a stable and predictable cashflow and supply Conad with an alternative and steady source of capital to boost its ambitious development plans.' said Pierluigi Solitario, director of business development of Savills IM Italy.
'We are proud of the success that Mercury has delivered since its launch, and these new commitments are recognition of its achievements. Cattolica Assicurazioni renewed commitment to invest in Mercury underpins their appreciation of the fund’s fundamentals and of Gruppo Conad performance.'
The Fund was launched in August 2016 with an initial portfolio of properties worth €300 mln. Gruppo Cattolica Assicurazioni holds the majority of its equity capital with the remaining balance held by the Conad consortia participating in the initiative.
The purpose of the fund is to enable the Conad consortia to focus on their core retail activities and accelerate their development plans in the Italian retail market, Savills IM said.
