La Française, the Paris-based asset manager with €42 billion of assets under management, has created a real estate investment management business aimed at undertaking core-plus and value-added investments, the firm announced today.
Following its strategic partnership with private equity real estate firm Forum Partners last September, and its acquisition of Cushman & Wakefield last March, the firm said it was restructuring its real estate operations for its institutional clients by forming a dedicated entity called La Française Real Estate Partners (LFREP).
LFREP’s opening purpose is to invest in core-plus and value-added strategies in France. As such, to lead the new platform, La Française has hired French veteran Patrice Genre as its president. Genre was the founder and managing director of DTZ Asset Management, the real estate investment management business of property services firm DTZ. He and his team will be 35 percent owners of the platform with the larger share retained by La Française.
The firm said the division would enable it to target “riskier assets” in terms of location and rental risks. As such, it would target returns of between 10 percent and 15 percent via its investments.
Genre said: “Working with La Française seemed to be an obvious step. A group like La Française is an ideal partner. Its position at the intersection between the worlds of finance and real estate and the abundance and depth of its services make it a preferred asset manager for large investors.”
“The partnership within La Française Real Estate Partners allows us to offer real estate asset management services specifically dedicated to institutional clients and to expand beyond classic Core / Core + strategies to Value Added and Opportunistic strategies so that we can offer greater profitability to investors.”
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