EXCLUSIVE: M7 raises first European fund

The London-based industrial property firm has already agreed to buy an eight-property portfolio of German retail assets for €46 million for the fund.

M7 Real Estate, the London-based investment manager, has raised its first continental European real estate fund.

The firm, best known as the operating partner in joint ventures with firms such as Starwood Capital Group and Oaktree Capital Management, has already made a €16 million first close on M7 European Real Estate Investment Partners I and is expected to add an additional €24 million by August – taking the total firepower of the fund to €100 million with gearing.

M7 has also notarised the purchase of an eight-property portfolio comprising a total of 412,796 square feet of space from a private landlord at a value of €46 million, representing a yield of approximately 8.7 percent. The transaction is scheduled to complete by September.

The assets consist of four supermarkets, three retail warehouses and a retail park in Germany and will be managed by M7.

“We are looking to put investor equity to work immediately and so capital raising for our funds is asset specific. Since we have identified additional investment opportunities, we anticipate a second and final equity close in August,” commented Richard Croft, chief executive of M7.

Back in December M7 raised £16.1 million (€20.45 million; $25.16 million) in equity for its first real estate fund.

Launched in 2009, M7 specializes in multi-let light industrial properties and manages a portfolio of over 300 assets spread over a total of 20.45 million square feet.