Cromwell Property Group has exercised its pre-emptive right to acquire third-party investor interests in the €600m Cromwell Polish Retail Fund (CPRF).

The closed-ended fund, which is due to be wound up in December, owns seven shopping centres in Poland.

Paul Weightman, Cromwell’s group chief executive, told Âé¶¹Ó³»­ Real Assets that the assets would be rolled into a new trust, and the intention would be to grow its assets.

“Current equity (in the fund) is about €245m. That is the level of commitment we would underwrite to do the transaction before any other third-party capital comes in,� he said.

Cromwell has an existing co-investment in the fund, and plans to take a co-investment stake of between 20% and 30% in the new vehicle.

Weightman expects to bring the first capital partners into the new fund by October.

He said: “The most advanced discussions we are having now are with European parties. We are also speaking with some Asian capital partners.�

The Brisbane-based fund manager has about 20 mandates in Europe. The two largest are invested in CPRF and a €400m entity that it manages on behalf of two institutional clients.