U.S. Investors Put $615M in European RE Fund

Dublin-based Quinlan Private, an international private equity and real estate group, has raised $615 million (€400 million) of equity capital from US investors for its Quinlan Private European Strategic Real Estate Fund. The fund is the group’s first one open to American investors, and according to Quinlan it proved quite popular among US institutional investors, endowments, foundations, life companies and high net worth individuals. “There’s a strong degree of interest among US investors in European properties, and the fund has been able to capitalize on that, and build further awareness in the investment community of opportunities in that part of the world,” a spokesman for Quinlan Private told CPN this morning, adding that the fund is now oversubscribed. The fund has invested and will invest further in real estate assets across Western Europe, and in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, where Quinlan has considerable previous experience as a local investor and developer. The fund targets are broad, including properties in the hospitality, retail, office and residential sectors. It also invests in value-added opportunities and development. In particular, the fund has so far invested in retail developments in Bulgaria and Slovakia; office properties in the Netherlands, the UK and Germany; and office development in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. An additional €325 million of capital was raised from Irish and UK investors, who will co-invest. Total capital commitments thus far, including debt, provide the fund with total investment capital of about €2.5 billion. Quinlan expects the fund to be fully invested by end of this year.