Thor Equities aims $10b rifle at European real estate

US investor Thor Equities has $10 bn (€9 bn) of equity and debt to invest in European real estate over the next few years.

CEO Joseph Sitt acknowledged in an interview with PropertyEU that competition for assets is picking up in Europe, but added: 'We like to say we shoot with a $10 bn rifle, not with a shotgun.'

Thor Equities is one of the largest street retail investors globally. The New York-based firm's main markets at present are Western Europe including the UK, North America and Latin America.

In April Thor announced the acquisition of 105-109 Oxford Street, also known as the Beaver Building, adjacent to the future Crossrail Tottenham Court Road station. The company’s other European holdings include 102 Avenue des Champs-Elysees, 51-53 Boulevard Haussmann and 65-67 Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris, as well as the Burlington Arcade in the heart of London’s Mayfair.

Thor expects to continue to buy in the coming months and years. Sitt told PropertyEU: 'We need to spend the $10 bn in the four and one quarter years we have left. Will you be able to? I don’t know. I would say Europe has gotten a lot more challenging since the bounce-back and it's not as easy as it was before but we like to say we shoot with a rifle not with a shotgun.'

'With a $10 bn budget it will be in every major city in Europe, probably with a heavier focus on London. We will also be in Central and Eastern Europe, but will have a heavier Western European focus.'

A full dealmaker profile of Thor Equities appears in the June edition of PropertyEU Magazine.