Investors

The firm AREA Property Partners has bought a minority stake in a UK retail park fund and has formed a company to undertake strategic asset management of the properties.

The chief executive of Mumtalakat, the investment arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has outlined the fund’s strategy of expanding its investment horizons to areas including real estate. Investments will be made with third party fund managers and be done directly.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has reached a resolution with The Carlyle Group which has seen the firm pledge to avoid hiring placement agents to obtain investments from New York’s public pensions. Carlyle has also agreed to pay $20m to ‘resolve its role’ in the investigation.

The bank has raised CHF300m for its dedicated green property fund, which will be listed on the Swiss exchange by 2013. The fund will target real estate in Switzerland only.

Julio Ramirez, who left Blackstone-affiliated placement agent Park Hill in March, has reportedly pleaded guilty to securities fraud. The allegations stem from the time Ramirez was employed by Wetherly Capital, prior to joining Park Hill; Blackstone says its internal investigation revealed no misconduct at Park Hill.

The embattled insurance group, AIG, has sold its central Tokyo headquarters for $1.2bn. The firm said the sale attracted ‘substantial interest’ from Japanese and overseas investors. The sale is part of the group's restructuring plans after the US government provided $180bn in support.

The private equity real estate firm founded by Dan Neidich has raised $793.9m for its second vehicle, Dune Real Estate Fund II. The vehicle is targeting $1.25bn.

The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System has hired former director of investments for the New Hampshire Retirement System, Richard Shafer, as deputy director of investments for external management. His role involves executing the pension fund’s private equity and real estate strategies.

The Wisconsin State Investment Board has committed an additional $40m to two real estate funds to help them delever, including $10m to Fortress’ Fund III.

SUN Apollo Ventures has invested more than $60 million by acquiring a stake in Mumbai-based developer, Keystone Realtors. The joint venture between AREA Property Partners and the Khemka family promoted SUN Group will also invest in the developer’s projects.