Merle Crichton
AXA Investment Managers – Real Assets acquired the 82-year old residential complex in mid-September in a deal worth about €800m.
Real estate debt in Australia and New Zealand, as well as core and value-add in Japan, will be focus areas for the firm’s head of Asia-Pacific real estate.
The New York-based private equity firm’s newly acquired stake is worth $95m and makes it the REIT’s sixth-largest shareholder.
The insurer has closed its largest European debt deal yet, backing a portfolio of prime offices across the UK capital.
The affordable housing-focused European Residential Income Fund II is the manager’s second European discretionary fund.
The London-based manager expects it to contain up to €800m in investments across western European markets.
Investor interest remains strong after corporate real estate disposals reached record levels in Europe and Asia last year.
An elaborate swap-style deal between the bank and manager accounts for two-thirds of office transaction volume in the Italian city year-to-date.
Fighting discrimination and enhancing diversity has gone up on private real estate investors' agendas with some demanding more diverse management teams.
Real estate debt managers may need to lower their performance expectations as banks become reluctant to provide funding lines, the firm warns.