Paris-based real estate fund manager AEW Europe completed €3.8 bn of transactions during 2016, making it the second most active year in the firm’s history following a record 2015.
Rob Wilkinson, CEO of AEW Europe said: 'Following our record year in 2015, we continued to build momentum in 2016, which was another landmark year for AEW not least because of our merger with Ciloger. We have further strengthened the business and, as we head into 2017, we continue to focus on our ambition of becoming one of the top five real estate investors and asset managers in Europe, while expanding and diversifying our investment platform to ensure stable and sustainable returns for our investor base throughout the cycle.'
Acquisitions accounted for €3.2 bn of the total volume.
A total of 168 transactions were completed in 2016, comprising 93 acquisitions and 75 disposals. Of the €3.2 bn invested in 2016, France and the United Kingdom were the two largest investment markets for the firm, with Germany, Italy and the Netherlands also attracting significant capital.
The top five investments by value undertaken by AEW in Europe throughout 2016 were: Bath Road office portfolio in Slough; a high-street retail portfolio in Paris; the Primavera portfolio of two shopping centres in France; 4. 17 Avenue Matignon (pictured), a 7,200 m2 office and retail asset located at in Paris; and Pantin, a 150,000 m2 logistics asset near Paris.
2016 also saw the completion of AEW’s merger with Ciloger, a manager of real estate funds targeted at French retail investors, positioning the combined entity as one of the largest real estate asset managers in Europe with over €26 bn of assets under management. Before the merger AEW managed €19.3 bn of real estate assets in Europe on behalf of a number of funds and separate accounts.
AEW has over 300 employees based in 10 locations across Europe and has a long track record of successfully implementing core, value-add and opportunistic investment strategies on behalf of its clients.
The firm raised €3.3 bn of additional capital in 2016 for European strategies, a significant increase on 2015 levels, of which broadly two thirds was for institutional funds, separate accounts and club deals, and one third for retail funds.
The capital raised across the institutional funds included: €400 mln for the firm’s pan-European logistics fund, Logistis, taking total equity in the fund to €1.7 bn and the target fund size to €3 bn; €400 mln for SELF II, AEW's second European real estate debt fund in partnership with Natixis Asset Management; €120 mln for City Retail, a fund targeting prime high street assets across Europe; and €100 mln in a first close for Residys, a recently launched fund investing in French residential assets.
Spain
On Thursday, AEW announced it was opening its first office in the Spanish market with Carsten Czarnetzki as country head based in Madrid, following the growth in its assets under management in Spain.
'We have been actively investing in the Spanish market over the last two years and expect our platform in that market to grow significantly over the coming years,' Wilkinson said. 'Local asset management is key to real estate investment and opening the office in Madrid ensures that we have the right resource on the ground.'
The last 24 months have seen AEW complete four acquisitions in the Spanish market representing a total value of €153 mln, bringing its total assets under management in Spain to €343 mln. According to AEW, the investments were made on behalf of a number of core and value add funds and mandates. AEW plans to increase the assets under management in Spain to more than €500 mln in the next few years.
As head of Spain, Czarnetzki will oversee asset and investment management activities there while retaining his role as fund manager of Europe Value Investors which also has investments in Madrid. Based in Madrid, Czarnetzki will report to Russell Jewell, head of private equity funds at AEW Europe.
