EXPO 2015: Hermes, Redevco in €250m retail JV

The joint venture is expected to invest in retail assets in western Europe and the Nordics with Redevco acting as the local manager of the assets.  

Hermes Investment Management, the investment management business of the BT Pension Scheme, and pan-European real estate investment management company Redevco have launched a €250 million joint venture to invest in core-plus and value-add European retail.

Announced yesterday at the EXPO REAL conference in Munich, the 50:50 joint venture will acquire High Street properties, shopping centers and retail parks in need of hands-on asset management. The target markets are France, Germany, the Benelux countries and the Nordic region. Redevco will act as the local manager of the assets.

“The fundamental changes and ongoing developments in retailing present interesting opportunities for a core-plus/value-add strategy,” commented Chris Taylor, head of private markets, Hermes Investment Management.

The joint venture comes shortly after retail specialists Redevco announced a €500 million tie-up with Los Angeles-based Ares Management which will invest in value-add and opportunistic Iberian retail.

That joint venture was formed in September to invest in shopping centers, retail parks and high street properties in Spain and Portugal. It will be seeded with a combination of assets in the Iberian peninsula from funds managed by Redevco and Ares that have a combined value of approximately €110 million.