Slovak real estate group HB Reavis has kicked off a €165 million Central European real estate fund called HB Reavis CE REIF. The Luxembourg-based fund will focus on core commercial assets primarily on the markets of the Czech Republic and Poland, as well as Slovakia and Hungary. The fund is seeded with five of the group’s fully leased properties, including two Bratislava office blocks, an Aupark shopping mall and two logistics parks.
The move represents a further push by the company onto regional markets after its 2010 purchases of the 19,050 sqm River Garden Office West project in Prague 8–Karlín and of a 47,500 sqm office project on Konstruktorska street in the Warsaw district of Mokotow. It also continues a trend of domestic Czech and Slovak buyers remaining highly active on the Central European market.
The fund will be managed by HB Reavis Investment Management, which expects to raise up to €100 million from institutional investors such as pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers as well as from high net worth individuals. Returns are estimated at 11 percent. The aim is to bring the total market value of the fund’s assets to €330 million. ‘We see a post-crisis comeback of commercial properties.’
Preparation for a launch of an additional real estate fund for institutional investors with a broader Central European focus was announced for later this year.
“We see a post-crisis comeback of commercial properties, while the economies of core CE countries are expected to achieve growth above the EU average. We therefore believe the time is right for us to launch a new business line of real estate investment management,” HB Reavis Group spokesman Roman Karabelli said in a press release.
