Henderson Global Investors has achieved a successful first closing of the Henderson Central London Office Fund II ("CLOF II" or the "Fund") having raised £90 million of capital (108 million) from a number of European and North American institutional investors, providing it with around £200 million (241 million) for acquisitions. The Fund has a target total equity raise of £200 million, with an ultimate Fund size of around £400 million,(483 million) and there is investor demand for a further close in the second half of this year.
CLOF II is a five year discretionary fund, which will focus on well located assets with the potential for active management and improvement. The Fund's primary strategy is to acquire assets, re-position them, and sell them into an upward moving market. It has a performance target of 10% pa* IRR and a performance fee payable only on realised returns at the end of the Fund's life, aligning the interests of Henderson with those of the Fund's investors.
Henderson is well known as an expert manager of central London office assets, following the success of its first Central London Office Fund ("CLOF") which has outperformed its IPD benchmark since inception, and previously with the management of London assets on behalf of three major life fund clients. The central London Office team of Clive Castle, Nick Deacon and Peter Neal has over 40 years of combined experience in the market. It has been responsible for over £2 billion of central London transactions and has a strong track record of realised performance. The team is currently seeking investments for CLOF II and has a number of opportunities under consideration. With its experience and market presence the Henderson Central London Office team is well placed to source quality assets both on and off market.
Commenting Clive Castle, CLOF II Fund Manager, said: "The central London office market offers attractive rewards for those investors who can judge their timing well and are experienced in active management. With the lack of new Grade A space coming to the market over the next few years we will soon be approaching a period of rental growth once again. We think there is a current opportunity to acquire assets in need of improvement, to conduct these improvements, and to sell into an upward moving market. We have done this successfully with CLOF and intend to do the same with CLOF II."
*Average annualised IRR on invested capital over the life of the Fund net of all management fees and expenses but before performance fees
Source: Henderson Global Investors
