GreenOak raises €911m for European real estate

GreenOak has wrapped up its second European-focused equity fund on €656 million, the New York-based firm said Tuesday.

In addition to the capital in the fund, GreenOak also raised €185 million of co-investment capital and €70 million of committed discretionary co-investment capital.

The firm launched GreenOak Europe Fund II in October 2016 with a €500 million target, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fund II’s investor base included institutional investors from North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, including corporate and government pension funds, endowments, foundations and family offices. One investor was Dutch pension Stichting Bedrijfstakpensioenfonds Zorgverzekeraars (SBZ), according to fund documents.

GreenOak is focusing Fund II on the acquisition of western European logistics, office, residential, retail and hotel assets. The firm can also buy land for development. So far, it has deployed €567 million of the equity across 20 transactions in Spain, Italy, France and the Netherlands.

For its debut European vehicle, GreenOak raised €250 million in fund capital and €70 million in co-investment capital to invest in Spanish and Italian logistics, retail, office and residential real estate. Fund I had an investment period of just 15 months and was deployed in 12 months, while Fund II has a three-year investment period. Both funds have leverage levels of 50 percent.

For the fund series, GreenOak is targeting a 15-17 percent net internal rate of return. Fund I has seen about 75 percent of its capital returned, with half the investments in the logistics-heavy, 6.7 million square foot portfolio exited. The exits achieved unlevered gross IRRs of 26 percent and levered gross returns of 38 percent, a source familiar with the firm told PERE.

“We are still in the middle innings of the deep-value opportunity in select European markets with motivated sellers – such as banks, insurance companies, government entities, funds winding-down and liquidity-driven sellers – driving  many of our acquisitions,” co-founder John Carrafiell said in a statement.

The firm did not use a placement agent for Fund II.

GreenOak has raised $8.3 billion for its strategies since 2011. In December, the firm closed its first European debt vehicle on €600 million, PERE previously reported.