The UK asset manager has acquired a majority stake in BauMont Real Estate Capital to diversify into higher-returning real estate.
The New Jersey-based manager’s co-CEO said pricing has dropped low enough in certain markets to consider alternative use.
The investor’s newly formed international team has partnered with Delancey to invest £1bn in the UK, with London offices as the initial focus.
Alongside the APAC-focused main fund, the firm is working with Aermont Capital to develop a separate sleeve for European data centers.
The firm has acquired three offices under the core strategy in Singapore, Sydney and Seoul since it was launched in 2018.
The fund, which raised €2.24bn, is also the largest Europe-only real estate fund to close so far this year.
The £500m commitment to a joint venture with Kennedy Wilson represents the Canadian pension plan’s first foray into SFR in Europe and a chance to 'really go at scale' in the sector.
The deal includes a separate $200m seed investment by the UK pension investor, which cited growing institutional interest in US multifamily and logistics assets and decarbonization initiatives.
In seeding a first-of-its-kind pan-European student accommodation fund, the manager’s indirect real estate business has shifted its approach to the sector.
Executives at the world’s largest real estate manager are less optimistic about a fundraising recovery.