Altamar eyes real estate fund close

The fund of funds manager is looking to close its debut real estate fund on its €200m hard cap by the end of 2008. The firm is also pencilling in 2009 for the launch of its next buyout fund.

Madrid-based Altamar Private Equity has reached the €150 million target on its debut private equity real estate fund, which the firm hopes to close by the end of 2008 on its €200 million hard cap.

The fund, which is named Altan, will be Altamar’s third. The fund of fund manager’s previous two funds closed on €325 million and €425 million respectively and were focused on private equity buyout investments.

Partner and co-founder of Altamar Claudio Aguirre is confident that LP commitments to private equity will not dry up, in spite of a slowdown in distributions. “We have strong relationships with most, if not all, the Spanish LPs and many assure us they have further capacity to invest in the PE asset class,” he said.

In September, Altamar boosted its headcount with eight new hires. The firm now has 25 professionals focused on private equity and seven focused on real estate.