IBUS has launched a new real estate fund named IBUS Winkelfonds. The fund will aim at high-quality retail investments on good locations, with quality tenants and mainly long-term lease contracts. IBUS Winkelfonds will focus predominantly on retail investments in Germany and The Netherlands and occasionally in France and the UK.
IBUS Winkelfonds consists of a seed portfolio of approximately 26 million. The Fund will expand its portfolio to over 200 million in the coming years in order to achieve good diversification.
Both the quality of the investments, the possible alternative use as well as the maximum loan to value of 60% on a fund level will give IBUS Winkelfonds a low risk profile. IBUS is happy to announce that a significant group of investors has already given its commitment to the fund.
IBUS is aware that the retail market will face challenges in the longer term caused by demographic changes and changes in shopping behavior through online retail. The investments will be selected such that they are able to counter these challenges.
A significant part of the portfolio will consist of investments focusing on retail for 'daily necessities'. The target return for IBUS Winkelfonds is a dividend return of at least 5% per annum and a total return of 7.0% per annum.
The seed portfolio exists of four German retail assets. First, an in-town shopping center in
Eschweiler near Aachen, two retail units in the pedestrian area of Braunschweig and a modern, small scale shopping center in the city center of Hamburg-Geesthacht.
The total acquisition price of these investments amounts to 26 million (including costs). The properties have been purchased from individual sellers. The tenants are large, nationwide operating retailers like C&A, DM drug store, Deichmann shoes, Penny supermarket, Rewe supermarket and several other tenants, based on long-term, CPI linked lease contracts.
Pepijn Morshuis: "We believe that the moment of introducing a fund that aims for low risk and a high and stable dividend yield for its shareholders will prove to be a good alternative in a period that is characterized by turbulent market tendencies and at its best a moderate economic recovery for the years to come.
"Besides that, we get the signal from the market that investors, due to the crisis, have come to the conclusion that it is worthwhile to invest with a long-term active and solid fund Manager, that will stay committed also after acquisition of the assets. A good return for the investor is realized only after a successful future sale of the assets."
Source: IBUS Asset Management B.V.
