AEW and Natixis Asset Management have completed the third closing for the pan-European debt fund, SELF II, increasing the Fund’s capacity to more than €500m. The new equity has been committed by institutional investors from France, Germany and Italy. The total amount raised by the debt platform, since its inception in 2012, now exceeds €1bn.
Over the last three months, SELF II has completed three new investments in loans financing the acquisition of a retail portfolio in France, Germany and Poland, of data centres in France and Italy and of the CB16 office tower in Paris La Défense. To date, around 50% of the fund’s capital has been allocated to France and Germany, and the rest across Italy, the Benelux and Poland; with Spain a potential market for future lending.
To support the growth of the platform, the Real Estate debt team has recruited two additional members. Chaoki Ben Halima has joined Natixis AM from Generali. In addition, Sylvain Deschamps has joined the debt team, as part of an internal move from AEW where he was in charge of real estate financing operations on behalf of third parties.
Cyril Hoyaux, co-head of the real estate debt platform, said: "This new fundraising reflects the strong appetite among French and international investors for our asset class and the opportunity that our SELF platform provides to successfully access real estate debt markets across Europe. We are continuing to deploy our strategy, with the help of our expanded team, and are confident in delivering above-target returns."
Arnaud Heck, co-head of the real estate debt platform, added: "Our real estate debt platform continues to grow at a sustained pace, without compromising on asset quality or process of deals selections and follow up. Our three latest investments are in line with this approach, with co-arranged transactions or structured as small club deals.”
