AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets has announced the final closing of the Pan-European Value-Added Venture. The venture has raised a total of €445m from a global institutional investor base, providing it with an investment capacity of up to €890m including leverage, to invest in value-add opportunities throughout Europe. The venture is managed by AXA IM - Real Assets.
AXA IM - Real Assets is pursuing a dual value-added strategy in order to allow investors in the venture to effectively exploit the pricing potential of under-performing assets in core locations within Europe’s most attractive investment markets, including France, Germany, Italy, the Nordics, Spain and the UK. The venture can adopt both refurbishment-driven asset management initiatives, including asset repositioning and extensions, as well as letting and re-letting strategies aiming to generate and enhance resilient income streams.
The venture is primarily focused on office, retail and logistics assets, but also has the scope to invest in hotel, healthcare, residential, and other alternative real estate assets. AXA IM - Real Assets has already invested or committed over 75% of the equity raised for PEVAV across eight acquisitions which have completed or been secured in the UK, Spain and Italy. The portfolio includes Assembly London, a three-acre urban campus development in Hammersmith, West London; St Andrews House, an office scheme in London’s Midtown; an office building located in Manoteras, Madrid and; Porta Siena, a shopping centre in Siena, Italy.
The venture is a continuation of AXA IM - Real Assets’ value-add strategy, building upon the progress made in this area since 2011 when it identified the opportunity to create value for clients by investing at a time when the nascent European economic recovery was coupled with a gradual increase in investors’ appetite for risk.
Ian Chappell, head of value add and development funds at AXA IM - Real Assets, commented: “By leveraging the significant experience of AXA IM - Real Assets in the value-add space, we believe the venture is well positioned to benefit from actively managing underperforming assets with inherently core investment characteristics, capturing the pricing appreciation arising from successful execution.
“To have been successful in raising a significant amount for this landmark venture for AXA IM - Real Assets’ is a strong endorsement of the expertise of our teams across Europe and our established track record in executing value-add initiatives for our client’s portfolios. Our established and responsive geographical network enables us to seize opportunities across markets and sectors enabling us to deliver maximum value for our clients.”
