Caisse de dépôt merges real estate units into $30bn group

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has merged its shopping centre, office and retail arms into one C$30 billion (€21.6 billion; $31.5 billion) real estate group.

The Canadian pension said it had consolidated its Ivanhoe Cambridge and SITQ subsidiaries under one banner, with the combined firms now known as Ivanhoe Cambridge Group. Ivanhoe Cambridge manages Caisse’s regional and super-regional shopping centre investments, while SITQ was founded by the C$151 billion pension in 1984 to manage its office, hotel, apartment and senior housing. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan also manages its real estate investments through a separate arm, Cadillac Fairview, which the public plan acquired in December 1999.

Ivanhoe Cambridge Group (ICG) will be led by Daniel Fournier, who becomes chief executive officer, and supported by senior managers Kim McInnes, chief executive officer of Ivanhoe Cambridge, William Tresham, chief executive officer of SITQ, and Sylvain Fortier, chief executive officer of Ivanhoe Cambridge Residential.

Michael Sabia, chief executive officer of Caisse, said in a statement the “fiercely competitive [real estate] market environment” was one reason for the merger as the pension looked to “fully utilise the expertise of our teams in their respective market segment to seize growth opportunities that can provide depositors with the long-term returns they need”. By working together, the real estate subsidiaries could be expected to close larger deals across the globe, Fournier added.

The newly-merged group will have more than $30 billion in AUM across 24 countries, making it one of the world’s 10 largest real estate companies, the Caisse said. SITQ is invested across the office, hotel, apartment and senior housing sectors, as well as in funds including Lone Star Funds, Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Carlyle Realty Partners, Schroders Asian Property, Warburg Pincus and the India Property Fund.