Deals

COIMA raises €150m for second opportunistic fund

The Milan-based real estate investment manager, which spun out of Houston-based real estate powerhouse Hines in November last year, has raised €150m for its second real estate vehicle, for which it hopes to invest around €1bn on office, retail, residential and logistics in major Italian cities. 

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COIMA SGR, the Milan-based property firm, has announced a first close of its €500 million opportunistic investment vehicle after raising €150 million, with cornerstone investment for the fund coming from an unnamed sovereign wealth fund.

The Italian investment manager, which was created following the sale of Hines’ Italian fund management subsidiary last year, said it was the fourth sovereign wealth fund the company had worked with. COIMA said that cornerstone investors will have the right to co-invest in the fund, raising its potential investment capacity.

The firm is seeking to raise €500 million for the vehicle, COIMA Opportunity Fund II, from three to five “leading investors”. With maximum leverage of 60 percent, Coima said the fund will have potential total firepower of €1 billion to focus on acquiring and developing office, retail, residential and logistics assets across Italy.

According to fund documents, the vehicle will have a target net return of between 10 percent and 12 percent.

“Territory represents a strategic natural asset for Italy that could contribute to foster economic development through an entrepreneurial approach raising the bar of product innovation and repositioning assets in partnership with investors, banks, the government, and public institutions,” Manfredi Catella, chief executive officer of COIMA SGR.

“The set-up of COIMA Opportunity Fund II is an important step forward and we are certain it will contributing promoting retrofitting and development projects in Italian cities,” Catella added.

Catella, Hines’ former head of Italy, acquired a majority stake in the business for an undisclosed sum last year and renamed it COIMA SGR. The new business works alongside Italian property company COIMA, which was founded by Catella’s family in 1974.

COIMA SGR’s previous opportunistic fund, COIMA Opportunity Fund I, is now fully invested and has acquired more than 1.4 million square feet of office space across five assets in Milan.

The firm was advised by Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners.

COIMA SGR manages more than €5.5 billion in real estate assets via 19 investment funds.