Henderson’s German retail fund closes on €350m

Henderson Global Investors has closed its first fund targeting the German retail warehouse market, stating the core vehicle was oversubscribed.

According to an announcement released today, the London-based global property firm raised an additional €90 million for its Henderson German Retail Income Fund (HGRIF), bringing the total amount of equity raised for the fund to €350 million. HGRIF has received commitments from 12 investors, Henderson said, the majority of which are German insurance companies and occupational pension funds. 

Tim Horrocks, head of Henderson’s property business in Germany, said in a statement: “This additional fund raising concludes a successful year for the property business with a total capital-raising of €1 billion throughout the year.”

Launched last year with an initial target of €300 million, a spokeswoman for Henderson told PERE that the core vehicle, which focuses exclusively on German retail warehouses that are anchored by a supermarket, saw a first close of €85 million last summer. Since then, Henderson acquired four assets for the fund. The assets, valued at a total of €60 million, are situated in Forcheim, Köln-Hürth, Ulm-Nersingen and another near Dusseldorf.

“German retail warehouses were a star performer throughout 2011,” said Thilo Wagner, fund manager of HGRIF. “They continue to offer attractive initial yields compared both to those in other countries and to other commercial sectors in Germany.”

HGRIF is targeting a minimum return on investment of 6 per cent annually, from a portfolio it ultimately hopes will consists of 12 to 15 assets.