M7 fully invests debut European fund

The London-based real estate investment manager has now fully deployed all of the capital in a fund that it launched just last year.

M7 Real Estate has fully invested its first European focused real estate investment fund following the acquisition of a €43 million portfolio of retail property in Germany.

The London-based real estate investment and asset manager has acquired 23 properties for its first European Real Estate Investment Partners (EREIP) I fund, which was launched last year to focus on value-add retail assets in Germany.

The portfolio is the fourth and final acquisition from the EREIP I vehicle, taking the total investment volume to €90 million. M7 held a final close for EREIP in February hitting its €90 million target.

The portfolio is split into two separate portfolios, located across Germany, with the larger including 18 retail properties totaling 435,938 square feet and leased to tenants such as Rewe, Metro, Kik and Fressnapf.

The remaining five assets include a portfolio of three properties totaling 45,746 square feet in southwestern Germany and two supermarkets in the northwest and center of the country, respectively, both of which are let to Germany’s largest supermarket corporation Edeka. M7 did not disclose the seller.

Richard Croft, chief executive officer at M7, said: “The final close for EREIP I is a strong endorsement of our ability to raise capital and use our pan-European platform to successfully identify, acquire and manage opportunities to build a portfolio of income-producing assets to which we can add further value. The pure retail focus of the fund is demonstrative of M7’s capabilities as a multi-sector investor and asset manager.”

In March, M7 held a first closing for its latest vehicle, EREIP III, on €80 million. The firm is targeting €250 million in commitments for the fund, which will have a value-add strategy focused on assets in the retail, office and industrial sectors in Germany and the Netherlands.

The firm’s second fund, EREIP II, launched in October 2015. It has so far garnered more than €40 million, with M7 acquiring three Dutch value-add mixed use commercial properties.

Simmons & Simmons acted as real estate legal advisors to M7 EREIP I.