CBRE Global MM forms UK venture with Palmer Capital

The multi-manager arm of Los Angeles-based CBRE Global Investors has formed a joint venture with London-based real estate venture capital firm Palmer Capital Partners for investments in UK developments and sites with the potential to change use, the firm has announced.

CBRE Global Multi Manager (GMM) said it and Palmer had committed $250 million of equity between them to the venture which would utilize Palmer’s network of operating businesses which it supports. In addition to managing more than £550 million (€689 million; $936 million) of assets, a large number of them in the UK, Palmer also is a shareholder in 10 property development and asset management business in the UK and in Germany.

The joint venture with Palmer represents GMM’s sixth partnership under its ‘progammatic joint venture’ strategy which sees it deploy capital from institutional investors into joint ventures with particular operating partners focused on particular markets and geographies. 

GMM, which currently manages $12.1 billion of assets, said the institutional capital on this occasion has come exclusively from its own clients. Typically, its clients would commit between $100 million and $200 million per joint venture.

In the past year, GMM has formed two similar themed joint ventures with Ardstone Capital, one for investments in UK regional offices, and one for investments in Dublin offices and retail. GMM also partnered with Curlew Capital for a fund targeting student housing in the UK. Outside of the UK, it has backed a venture with US investment manager Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors for a US mezzanine debt strategy and with student accommodation development firm Watkins Jones for a strategy focused on student housing in Europe.

Jeremy Plummer, chief executive officer at GMM, said the total capital committed to its programmatic joint ventures had now exceeded £800 million. He said: “This approach has allowed quick deployment of capital and has incrementally benefitted our investment performance and governance.”