Rockspring raises €274m for Euro fund

London-based property investment manager Rockspring has closed its fourth vehicle to date with 13 institutional investors committing to the core-plus and value-add strategy.

Rockspring Property Investment Managers has closed TransEuropean IV on €274 million ($543 million), giving it capacity to acquire €600 million of real estate across Europe.

Thirteen international institutional investors from eight countries committed, including the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio, Woelbern Invest AG, Industriens Pension, Vital Forsikring ASA, Windsor Trust and the National Pension Service of Korea.

TransEuropean IV will acquire properties in the European Union and EU accession countries in the retail, office and industrial sectors in a blend of core plus and value add strategies. It is targeting a net annual distribution yield of 6 percent and a net total return of 11 percent per year.

In a statement, the London-based firm said it had acquired eight assets totalling €152 million for the vehicle. These are: a retail Warehouses in Hoorn, Holland and Sandweiler, Luxembourg;  high street retail units in Puerto Banùs in Spain;  offices in Meudon La Forêt near Paris;  light industrial properties in Belgium; and car showroom properties in Holland.

Robert Gilchrist, Rockspring’s chief executive, is the fund director of TransEuropean IV, while Paul Hampton and Charles-Nicolas Tarrière are fund manager and assistant fund manager, respectively.

Rockspring, which has €6.3 billion of assets under management, is formerly known as PRICOA Property Investment Management. Senior managers bought the firm in 2004 from Prudential Financial of the US. It has offices in Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Madrid, Paris and Helsinki.