Patrizia Immobilien has acquired the business of Kenzo Capital Corporation, the Tokyo-based real estate advisory and asset management firm, as well as the fund management and placement activities of Kenzo Japan Real Estate. This is an important step in the company’s objective to grow its international network and offer European investment opportunities to an increasing number of global clients.
Kenzo Capital Corporation was founded in 2008 by Dr Leonard Meyer zu Brickwedde. It is an established local platform with experience in serving European clients interested in investing in Japanese residential real estate through a dedicated fund which was launched in 2017 in cooperation with Patrizia. Meyer zu Brickwedde has vast experience of the local Japanese investment markets having previously headed the Tokyo branch of what is now UniCredit.
Patrizia has raised approximately €3bn in equity over the past few years from Asian investors. The acquisition of the Kenzo business will further support this demand. The deal also establishes Patrizia in Japan and presents Japanese institutional investors with the opportunity to diversify their portfolios – for all asset classes, all risk profiles in all major European countries – via a local platform as part of an established pan-European organisation.
Wolfgang Egger, Chief Executive Officer of Patrizia, commented: “The acquisition of Kenzo is a continuation of the cooperation we have with them and is an opportunity for us to further grow our global network. Offering clients a wide-ranging choice alongside the pursuit of best-in-class, risk-adjusted returns lie at the centre of everything we do at Patrizia. This acquisition offers ‘two-way’ benefits for many of our clients as well as new ones. Crucially, it secures a platform that will allow us to continue our drive to help deploy Asian capital in the European markets we have been actively investing in for almost four decades.”
Dr Leonard Meyer zu Brickwedde, President and CEO of Kenzo Capital Corporation, said: “Kenzo has successfully established itself as a trusted partner in the Japanese real estate market. In Patrizia we have found the right partner to enable Japanese institutional investors, with whom we have longstanding relationships, to invest in European real estate. Equally, Patrizia recognises Kenzo as a competence centre through which its European clients are able to invest in Japan, thereby growing the fund we jointly launched in 2017.”
