LaSalle holds first close on Canada fund

LaSalle Investment Management has announced the first close of its fourth Canadian offering, LaSalle Canadian Income & Growth (CIG) Fund IV, on C$110 million ($100.4 million; €73.8 million). The closing, which was held on December 20, occurred just eight months after fundraising began, according to a statement from the Chicago-based firm. The value-added fund is targeting C$250 million in total equity and thus far has secured commitments from four undisclosed Canadian institutional investors.

 

CIG IV will pursue real estate opportunities in the office, retail, industrial and multifamily and residential sectors. The strategy will focus on Canada’s top six metropolitan areas: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. 

 

Zelick Altman, managing director and head of LaSalle’s Canadian business, pointed to the “sustained strength of the Canadian real estate market” as a main part of the firm’s fundraising success. “We expect the Canadian economy to continue to provide opportunities to capitalize on properties with attractive income that also have the potential for value creation through focused asset management,” he said in the statement.

 

PERE reported on the launch of CIG IV in April, at which time LaSalle said it anticipated the bulk of the fund to be committed by Canadian LPs but that the vehicle may open to US investors in the future. LaSalle is targeting a net return of 10 percent or higher for CIG IV, which has a three-year investment period and a five-year holding period. LaSalle also said in April that it would begin making investments for the fund within one month of the first closing. The previous vehicle in the series, CIG III, closed on C$228 million in equity in 2009. 

 

The announcement marks LaSalle’s second instance of fundraising news in two days. Yesterday, PERE revealed that LaSalle had hit the hard cap for its latest European debt fund with a combined total of £600 million (€720 million; $982 million) in capital commitments. LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies will aim to provide whole loans and mezzanine loans on property in the UK and Germany.