This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CASHED up investors are still willing to invest, giving $US5.2 billion to Macquarie Global Property Advisors' MGPA Fund III.
The capital raising attracted investors from Australia, North America, Europe and the Middle East and they came from broad range sectors including corporate and public pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and endowments looking for exposure in the European and Asian real estate markets.
The MGPA Fund III consists of two regionally based private equity real estate funds, MGPA Europe Fund III and MGPA Asia Fund III, with mandates to invest in Europe and Asia respectively.
MGPA’s chairman and chief executive Jim Quille said MGPA finds opportunities in all cycles of the market and the current uncertainty in the capital markets provides excellent opportunities for the funds.
Quille said there is currently less competition for deals, especially where high levels of leverage and financial engineering were driving certain buyers.
“Unless you can create real value through physically improving, developing or active asset management of real estate today, opportunities are less obvious and this plays to MGPA’s strengths,” he added.
The MGPA Europe Fund III raised $US1.3 billion, resulting in a potential buying power of $US5.2 billion. The fund has already committed $US161 million to investments in the residential sector in Wrocław, Poland and a strategic development site in Athens, Greece.
The fund has a mandate to invest in the 27 states of the EU together with Switzerland and Norway.
MGPA Europe’s chief executive Alex Jeffrey said in an environment of falling prices but with occupational markets remaining relatively robust, the investment landscape is particularly favourable for MGPA Europe Fund III.
“We will be focusing on opportunities arising from dislocation and distress in western Europe as well as continuing growth and convergence in central and eastern Europe,” he concluded.
Australian Property Journal
