LaSalle Investment Management and Morley Fund Management have announced the acquisition of three properties in Italy and France on behalf of their joint venture Encore+, a pan-European fund investing across the European Economic Area outside the UK.
The acquisitions in Italy are part of the major logistics hubs to the south of Rome and Padova. The properties located in Anagni and Rovigoare respectively, are already 50% pre-let and under development. The three buildings will provide more than 116,000 square metres of grade A logistics assets.
The Paris property located at 7-13 Boulevard Paul Emile Victor is an office building comprising 3,500 square metres and includes such tenants as Roche Pharmaceuticals. This off-market deal through purchase of holding company shares, totals the property value at approximately Eur 17m.
According to Gil Bar, fund manager of Encore+, the acquisitions will bring the fund's anticipated gross asset value to approximately Eur 663m. Since its launch in June 2006, Encore+ has performed strongly producing an internal rate of return of near 18% over the past 12 months.
'Both acquisitions represent the fund's core commercial property interest,' stated LaSalle acquisitions director Andy Watson. 'Specifically, Italy remains a key target market for Encore+."
Encore+ is a monthly priced and dealt, open-ended fund with a balanced portfolio of commercial property with a core-plus emphasis.
LaSalle Investment Management, a member of the Jones Lang LaSalle group, is a global real estate investment manager with US$ 47bn assets under management. Morley, the UK-based asset management business of insurer Aviva, managed a total of GBP168bn in assets worldwide as of June 2007.
Source: Hedgeweek
