Liquid invests €62m in European secondaries deal

Liquid Realty, the secondaries investment specialist, has committed €62 million ($82 million) to two pan-European real estate funds.

The firm, which is run by managing principals Scott Landress and Jeff Giller, said in a statement that the investment has been made in two value-added funds, though it declined to name the fund sponsors or the seller.

The deal builds on Liquid Realty’s £435 million ($775 million; €615 million) investment in a portfolio of UK assets in ten different Jersey Property Unit Trusts last year, believed to be the largest secondary real estate acquisition ever completed in Europe.

Liquid’s latest market involvement is in a “stapled” secondary transaction. This entails not only purchasing a secondary interest in a fund but also making a concurrent primary commitment to invest in a new fund being set up by the same fund manager. The total investment of €62 million includes the primary commitment.

The firm says the two funds are both sponsored by the European affiliate of a “leading global real estate fund manager” which have invested in diverse portfolios of lodging, multi-family residential, retail and office properties throughout France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, Finland and elsewhere.

The transaction is believed to be the second largest European secondaries deal after Liquid’s UK deal last May.

Liquid has invested in 12 European funds over the past year, totaling commitments of more than $850 million. Last year, the firm raised approximately $720 million for Liquid Realty Partners III.