Catalyst Capital, the European real estate investment and asset management firm, has acquired a portfolio of properties in the UK for £54.85 mln (approx. €78.55 mln).
Catalyst’s new European real estate fund, Catalyst European Property Fund II (CEPF II), has purchased the Regatta portfolio, comprising 19 properties from KPMG, acting as administrator to De Stefano Property Group Limited and certain of its subsidiaries.
The properties, which are predominantly retail, are located in the south east of England in locations, such as London, Trowbridge, Windsor, Reading, and Bromley. Key assets include Brooks Shopping Centre in Winchester and the Market Place development site in Henley.
GVA acted for Catalyst and CBRE for the vendor.
Guy Wilson, a partner of Catalyst Capital, said: “We are excited about the asset management initiatives and opportunities in this portfolio, in particular, progressing the retail development scheme at Henley and regenerating the Brooks centre in Winchester”.
Catalyst announced in June the first close of CEPF II, a €1.25 bln real estate fund, having raised equity commitments of €150 mln from global institutional investors.
Almost half of the initial commitments have already been deployed in three separate transactions in the UK and Europe. In addition to the Regatta portfolio, CEPF II has purchased another UK portfolio of 18 properties at a net initial yield of 10%.
CEPF II will invest in the office and retail sectors and, geographically, in the countries in Europe where Catalyst has an established presence: the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, and Poland, where Catalyst believes there is the potential to source attractive value-creation opportunities and capitalise on the market dislocation between prime and secondary assets. It will target a diversified portfolio of income-producing assets and development and refurbishment opportunities.
Source: Catalyst Capital
