Bouwinvest commits €50m to Genesta’s 2nd Nordics fund

The Amsterdam-based real estate fund manager has committed the capital to Genesta’s €600 million office and retail-focused value-add vehicle. 

Bouwinvest, the Amsterdam-based real estate fund manager, has committed €50 million to Stockholm-based real estate investment manager Genesta’s second investment vehicle.

The vehicle, Genesta Nordic Real Estate Fund (GNREF) II, has a fundraising target of between €500 million and €600 million and will have an investment life of around eight years, the firm said.

Genesta also confirmed it has completed its first two acquisitions, in Oslo and Helsinki, on behalf of the fund and will continue to invest in retail and office in urban areas across Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The firm has previously said it will target a net return for GNREF II of between 13 to 14 percent.

“The Nordic real estate markets are considered to be relative stable and benefit from positive long-term economic trends. This matches Bouwinvest’s international investment strategies,” said Stephen Tross, Bouwinvest’s managing director international investments. “The Genesta fund’s value-add strategy of renovation, redevelopment and re-letting in core markets in the region is offering us attractive risk-adjusted returns in a very competitive environment,” he added,

In August last year, Bouwinvest said it planned to increase investments in third-party funds and listed property companies to boost the €2.7 billion global portfolio it manages on behalf of the Dutch Construction Workers Pension Fund. The Dutch fund manager’s latest investment allocation takes its commitment to European markets, outside of its domestic base, to more than €1 billion.

In June last year, Genesta held a first close of GNREF II after attracting €152 million from four institutional investors. The firm has not disclosed how much capital has currently been committed to GNREF II. However, the investment manager seems to be on track to comfortably surpass the amount of capital raised by its first vehicle, which was €176 million.

Genesta was established in 2003 as a local operating partner for large European funds managed by firms including LaSalle Investment Management, JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and American International Group. Transacting initially on a deal by deal basis, the firm built up a sufficient track record to enter the fundraising arena in 2007.

Genesta was advised by London-based private markets capital advisory firm Capra Global Partners.