Catella beats Dutch resi fund target with €155m raise

Catella Real Estate, the Munich-based real estate investment manager, has raised €155 million for its first Dutch-focused investment vehicle, passing its original fundraising target by €5 million.

The core-plus, open-ended fund, Panta Rhei Dutch Residential, was launched in early 2015 and Catella is targeting residential properties in Dutch provinces such as Groningen, Randstad, North Brabant and Arnhem/Nijmegen.

The firm confirmed that the €155 million of investment was provided by six “institutional and professional” investors. Including leverage, the vehicle’s overall investment capacity is now €260 million.

Catella, which partnered up with regular collaborator and local asset manager Panta Rhei, said it launched the fund to take advantage of the “up-and-coming” Dutch residential property market.

“The positive price trends for residential real estate in the Netherland continue. Prices rose 2.7 percent in the second quarter, and thus only 7 percent below the record prices of 2008 and 14 percent above the price levels of 2013,” said Dr Thomas Beyerle, head of group research at Catella.

“Also the current housing shortage in Dutch metropolitan areas is expected to persist. The number of new residential units is stagnating and the volume of planning permissions is on the decline. This makes the market very attractive for institutional investors,” Beyerle added.

At the time of the launch, Catella said the vehicle would have a target yield of between 6 percent and 7 percent, with dividends expected to be between 4 percent and 4.5 percent per annum. According to the Catella website, the vehicle is exclusively aimed at institutional investors which can invest a minimum of €5 million.

To date, €79.3 million has been invested on behalf of the fund on seven properties in Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Rijswijk, Utrecht-Nieuwegein, Rotterdam and Leidschendam, all of which have an average lease of almost 98 percent.

The most notable deal was the December 2015 purchase of three portfolios, consisting of 303 residential units with a total floor space of 310,000 square feet, located in the greater Den Haag and Eindhoven regions in the Netherlands. The price of the deal was not disclosed at the time.

“The positive performance of the existing portfolio of our Dutch residential fund continues. Even though acquisitions are increasingly difficult and require extensive due diligence, properties worth more than €20 million are to be purchased before the year-end,” said Henrik Fillibeck, managing director at Catella.

“By using a new concept with specific regional know-how, we, together with our partner Panta Rhei Advisory, have succeeded in winning the trust of professional investors sooner than planned,” added Filibeck.

Catella Real Estate was formed in May 2015, when parent company Catella appointed the head of its banking operations, Timo Nurminen, to lead its new real estate investment management business.