Two Invesco funds team up with Sasson's RedTree to buy Paris office tower

Two high-return real estate funds managed by Invesco have teamed up with RedTree Capital to buy a 29,400sqm office building in Paris.

Invesco, which didn’t disclose any financial details, said the asset was acquired from WestInvest InterSelect, a German open-ended real estate fund managed by Deka Immobilien.

Tour Cédre in La Défense was acquired through a joint venture between two of Invesco’s closed-ended funds and RedTree, a company co-founded in 2013 by Eric Sasson, the former head of Carlyle Group’s European real estate team.

Invesco did not provide details about the two funds, Mortgage Recovery Fund II and European Value Add Fund.

However, Invesco announced in 2010 that it had raised $1.46bn for its first Mortgage Recovery Fund. The fund, it said, was managed jointly by its real estate, fixed income and distressed investment teams and was designed to invest in mortgage-backed securities and mortgage-related loans.

Part of its strategy was to invest in distressed mortgages through the US Treasury’s Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program, launched in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Invesco’s European Value Add Fund raised €327m at close in September and is the investment manager’s first value-add real estate fund to target Europe.

Kevin Grundy, managing director of fund management, higher-returning strategies at Invesco, said: “To achieve returns in a low-growth environment means we are increasingly looking at interesting ways of investing to achieve higher income, leading us to pursue strategic growth in the space.

“We look forward to utilising our 30 years of value-add experience as well as RedTree Capital’s value-add xperience to turn Tour Cédre into a truly exceptional asset in the local market and, ultimately, potentially increasing the performance returns for our higher-returning strategies.”

Cristiano Stampa, senior director for transactions at Invesco, said: “Tour Cédre offers an exciting opportunity for Invesco to acquire a mid-sized tower and in a location which is seeing increasing demand.”

“We are also delighted to announce our co-investment partnership with RedTree Capital who will be working alongside our experienced on-the-ground asset management team in Paris to deliver value creation opportunities during the hold period of this actively managed asset.”

Sasson said: “Our partnership with Invesco on this project presents an exciting opportunity for our firms to collaborate on actively-managing this iconic asset.”