Catalyst invests €155m in Paris offices

Catalyst Capital, the London-based private equity real estate firm, has invested €155 million in three Paris offices.
 
The firm has acquired Perspective Seine in the Pleyel district of Saint-Denis from Paris-based real estate investment manager AEW Europe, and two properties west of Paris – Atria at Rueil-Malmaison and Axe Etoile at Nanterre-Préfecture – from Amundi Real Estate, the real estate investment management firm formed through the merger of the real estate platforms of French banks Crédit Agricole and Société Générale.
 
Perspective Seine comprises of three interconnected buildings, totalling 352,770 square foot, with 549 car parking spaces. The property is 60 percent let to 10 tenants. Atria comprises three buildings, totalling 197,090 square foot with 326 car parking spaces. The properties are 65 percent leased to 16 tenants. Axe Etoile is a 114,430 square foot building with 201 car parking spaces and is 100 percent leased to nine tenants.
 
“We are excited about the asset management initiatives and opportunities at all three properties. We believe the high-quality space, attractive locations and immediate dynamic environments will prove popular with occupiers,” commented Fabrice Clermont-Tonnerre, partner at Catalyst Capital.
 
Back in June, Catalyst hit a €150 million first close for Catalyst European Property Fund (CEPF II), its second pan-European property fund. The firm said it had raised equity from institutions including US and European pension funds, endowments, funds of funds, family offices and wealth management firms, some of which were investors in its first fund, Catalyst European Property Fund I (CEPF I). That fund attracted €228.5 million in 2009.
 
The firm has already deployed €115 million of equity – half of which was invested via the fund and the remaining from co-investing parties – in four separate transactions in the UK and Europe.
 
The firm's investment strategy for the fund carries a value-add risk and return profile. Catalyst aims to deploy its capital into investments in the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and Poland, and into transactions where it believes it can create value and 'capitalize on the market dislocation between prime and secondary assets.' Within that spectrum, the firm is expected to acquire properties that are income-producing as well as developments and properties that require refurbishment.