IDERA holds first close on $100m fund

Two months after being acquired by Chinese conglomerate Fosun, boutique Japanese private equity real estate firm has held a first close on its second club vehicle, Japan Urban Residential Club II (JURIC II), drawing commitments from two European investors, according to an IDERA statement.

The exact size of the first close was not disclosed, but PERE understands that the firm managed to secure $40 million of capital altogether, and has set a target hard cap for the vehicle of approximately $100 million. The firm has already deployed some of that capital to acquire two multi-family properties for middle-income tenants in Osaka and Kyoto, according to the statement.

The two European institutional investors were not named. JURIC I was set up in March of last year as a joint venture with Danish multi-manager Sparinvest Property Investors for residential investments in Japan outside of Tokyo. PERE reported in January that Sparinvest was expected to re-up to the fund, but bring on other investors as well. JURIC II is set up as a blind-pool fund, but is expected to take commitments from only a handful of investors.

IDERA first raised $20 million from Sparinvest, and had originally intended to increase the JV to $100 million in purchasing power (including debt), but when other investors expressed interest in the platform, IDERA chose to pursue a follow-on fund that brought in other investors instead.

JURIC II was originally plotted for Q1 2014, but not long after the firm entered into discussions with Fosun about buying the platform. The official launch of JURIC II was then pushed back to May, around the same time that Fosun completed its acquisition of IDERA.

“We are grateful for the investors’ recognition of IDERA’s sets of strengths and capabilities, and more importantly, for their patience in working with us diligently during the closing process for JURIC II, which coincided with IDERA’s change of control and transition to Fosun Group,” Mikihisa Hirai, chairman of IDERA, said in the statement. “We appreciate the investors’ continued support in our new capital structure and platform, which will be bolstered by Fosun’s sponsorship.”

Hirai also pointed to Japan’s economic recovery and the reforms being planned by the Abe administration as positive signs for property investors. The firm is already reviewing a pipeline of investments for JURIC II, and is targeting returns in the mid-teens, according to the statement.

“We are very impressed with IDERA’s abilities in cultivating relationships with the investors and leading them to the formation of the fund,” Guangchang Guo, chairman of Fosun Group, added. “This first closing of JURIC II… was the first milestone of our accomplishments as a group, which will be followed by more to come.”