Rockspring Property Investment Managers LLP (‘Rockspring’) has invested €272m in three separate transactions on behalf of TransEuropean VI LP (‘TEP VI’ or the ‘Fund’) since its first close in October 2015. The properties comprise L’Atelier, an office development site in Geneva for €80m; the Metro building in Hammersmith, a multi-tenanted, west London office asset for €91m; and a logistics portfolio across France for €101m. These combined transactions represent 25% of the Funds total expected firepower of €1bn.
L’Atelier is a ground-up development in Geneva, purchased from a local private investor in an off-market transaction. Located in the Plan-les-Ouates region, south west of the city centre, the state-of-the-art, hi-tech business campus will comprise over 45,000m² of accommodation upon completion. This is the third in a series of successful development projects funded and run by Rockspring in Plan-les-Ouates which include Project Bluebox, a 12,940m² office building, and the 19,100m² Project Skylab. L’Atelier is already 5% pre-let.
Rockspring has acquired Metro Building in Hammersmith, a key office sub-market in west London, which provides 10,111m² of office space over nine floors and is fully let to a number of international companies including Weber, Agoda International, Capcom, Virgin Hotels and IATA.
The portfolio of four high grade logistics assets totalling 214,000m² is located along the north/south logistics corridor in France. Although the portfolio is substantially let to international tenants including DHL, Amazon and Honeywell, it also offers considerable opportunities for asset management through both development and tenant negotiation. Through a specialist OPCI structure, Rockspring's Paris team now manages a logistics portfolio currently valued in excess of €300m.
Paul Hampton, Rockspring partner and fund director of the TransEuropean series said: "Our ability to successfully coordinate the execution of deals in cities such as Geneva and London within only 3 months of the Fund's first closing is testament to the strength of our in-house deal origination team and the momentum we have been able to build off the back of Trans European V. With further transactions totalling just under €200m also under offer in similarly dominant urban locations, we are working closely with investors and hope to achieve an accelerated second closing in coming weeks.”
Rockspring announced a first close for TEP VI in October 2015 with €217.5m from five international investors, and a second close is imminent. Fundraising will continue through Q2 2016 or until a hard cap of €500m is reached. TEP VI combines a blend of high income and capital intensive asset management strategies and primarily invests into office, retail and industrial properties across continental Europe and the UK with a value add risk profile. The fund will be geared to a level of 55%, delivering a spending power of approximately €1bn.
Rockspring’s TransEuropean series of funds was first launched in 1992 and has invested close to €2bn in 14 European countries, achieving an IRR of over 12% since inception.
