Investcorp expands into European RE

The Bahrain investment manager tapped a Macquarie executive to lead its new European business.

The real estate arm of Bahrain-based alternative investment manager Investcorp is expanding outside the US to develop a European business, the firm said Tuesday.

Neil Hasson, whose appointment was effective immediately, will oversee the region, starting with a focus on core-plus opportunities in residential and commercial properties across the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. He will be based in London and will report to Investcorp’s head of real estate investment, Jonathan Dracos, who is based in New York.

Before this role, Hasson was a senior managing director at Macquarie Group in London for three years, where he led the firm’s European real estate lending business, according to Investcorp’s announcement.

“Diversification into the European real estate market is a key element of Investcorp's strategy,” said Mohammed Al-Ardhi, Investcorp’s chairman, in a statement Monday. ”Investcorp has long served its client base with global and diversified investment products – entering European real estate is the next logical strategic step for the firm.”

Investcorp had $10.7 billion in total assets under management as of December 31 and in the last year, the firm has closed real estate transactions totaling about $1.5 billion across property types and locations in the US, according to the announcement. Its most recent publicly-disclosed deal was the purchase of a 10-story office building in Washington DC last month for $180 million, according to real estate data provider Real Capital Analytics (RCA). Investcorp partnered with ScanlanKemperBard Companies and Carbyne Property Group to buy the 169,000 square foot building at 733 10th Street, according to RCA.