Deals

France’s OFI holds first close on around €100m

OFI REIM, a real estate investment manager focused on office buildings and the Paris region has teamed up with the UK’s F&C REIT, to raise nearly €100m for their second fund together

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French property manager OFI REIM and British firm F&C Reit Asset Management have held a first close of almost €100 million for a closed ended fund.

FOSCA II is the second vehicle the pair have raised together, the first having garnered more than €200 million in 2006.
 
In a statement, the pair said the strategy was to build a diversified portfolio of offices and attached retail shops in France with a high level of quality.
 
European institutional investors, mainly insurance companies and pension funds, have committed to the fund so far. Subsequent subscriptions are expected over the next year with the target size being €300 million. With leverage, that should give the vehicle firepower of up to €600 million.
 
“The French commercial real-estate market is one of the largest and most diversified in the Eurozone and it has proved its resilience recently”, said Brigitte Sagnes Dupont, executive chairman at OFI REIM.
 
OFI was established in 2005 to focus on office buildings and the Paris region. It has around  €650 million of assets, while F&C REIT Asset Management is the result of a merger between F&C Asset Management’s property business and REIT Asset Management in September 2008. It has a global portfolio worth £7.5 billion (€8.8 billion; $10.7 billion) .