Partners Group, the private markets investment firm, has purchased a property fund in Switzerland via the secondaries market.
The Zug-based firm's latest secondaries buy is for a portfolio of 14 Swiss properties owned by real estate fund Helvetica I Swiss Real Estate Danmark.
“This is another example of Partners Group providing a tailored and complete solution to acquire a portfolio of real estate assets, allowing an exit for existing investors and ensuring time for the full value development of the properties in question,” Partners vice president Fabian Neuenschwander said in a statement.
A fully deployed fund that attracted NOK650 million (€75 million; $94 million) from 2,500 Norwegian investors in 2007 to give them exposure to Swiss assets, Helvetica I generated stable returns to its investors and paid dividends “due to sound strategic dispositions, an attractive portfolio mix, solid tenants and currency gain”, according to the statement.
Partners is understood to have purchased the fund at a discount to net asset value from the shareholders. Helvetica Property Investors will continue to manage the assets and work alongside Partners to realise value. The level of discount and the fund’s NAV could not be determined at press time.
Partners declined to comment beyond its prepared statement.
The fund’s remaining 14 assets have been rolled into a new structure, Helvetica II. The original fund was due to expire in 2016, but Helvetica II’s lifespan is until 2019 and will include co-investment by Helvetica of up to CHF 2million (€1.66 million; $2.07 million) which is the remainder of Fund I, according to a statement. Partners is expect to contribute additional investments from its other secondaries funds, according to a source familiar with the matter.
“In Partners Group, we have found a great partner for the next stage of development of this portfolio of assets as well as for our firm moving forward,” Helvetica managing partner Hans Holdener said in the statement.
Fund II is expected to close in December 2019, according to Holdener.
Credit Suisse advised on the transaction.
Partners has been very active on the secondaries front lately, having purchased a €300 million tail-end Nordic real estate portfolio in September and held a final close on its second global real estate secondaries programme, raising almost $1 billion more than expected.
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