Internos has expanded its European investment management business through the acquisition of Commerz Real鈥檚 real estate Spezialfonds business (CRS).
Internos has expanded its European investment management business through the acquisition of Commerz Real鈥檚 real estate Spezialfonds business (CRS).
The transaction increases Internos' total assets under management (AUM) to 鈧�3.9 bn.
CRS comprises nine funds holding 68 assets located across nine central and western European countries. The funds administer 鈧�1.6 bn of AUM, mostly logistics and office buildings situated in France and Germany. As part of the integration of the CRS business, Internos has opened an office in Lisbon, Portugal.
Commenting on the acquisition, Andrew Thornton, CEO of Internos told PropertyEU: 'This is probably a defining moment for Internos.'
The transaction does a number of things, he said. 'It really balances our business: we are now as much a German business as we are a UK business or a French business. It gives us access to over 40 very strong institutional relationships in Germany, particularly with pension funds but also with insurance companies.'
'The transaction takes our assets under management to just about 鈧�4 bn. And, another significant issue it addresses is the issue of scale. To run a pan-European property business you need a certain scale so you can the local people on the ground in the main markets. This gives us that scale. From a resourcing and infrastructure perspective it is moving us to where we want to be,' Thornton said.
The latest acquisition follows a period of sustained growth in Internos' European business in 2013. Over the past six months it has been appointed investment manager of Local Shopping REIT and held the second close of its Hotel Real Estate Fund with 鈧�210 mln of equity.
Internos won two mandates; one to manage a French portfolio for a Swedish pension fund; and the other, from the Saxony Doctors Pension Fund in Germany (S盲chsische Aerzteversorgung - SAEV), to invest up to 鈧�200 mln in value-add European hotel real estate.
Thornton: 'Internos has already earned a reputation for the successful takeover of portfolios and fund management businesses, having executed nine such transactions since 2009. This new acquisition moves towards Internos' long-term strategic decision to manage a diversified range of assets across varying classes, qualities and locations with a weighting towards core and opportunistic European funds.'
