Managers

The Pennsylvania-based fund of funds closes its first real estate outing on $231 million of commitments, almost double the initial target, targeting global opportunistic investments.

East Capital, the asset manager specialising in financial markets in Eastern Europe, is the latest to join the Russian real estate gold rush.

The Blackstone Group is poised to add to its Asian office network with a branch in Beijing, the political and administrative seat of the Chinese government.

The Dubai-based private equity firm is nearing the first close of its $200m MENA-focused hospitality fund, and has begun marketing another $530m fund specifically for Saudi Arabia.

The parent company of Indian private equity firm UTI Ventures is raising an Indian infrastructure fund with Shinsei Bank and HSH Nordbank.

The European Property Investors Special Opportunities fund will target pan-European investment opportunities arising from the current dislocation in the market.

The fund, targeting real estate developments in the Greater China regions of China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, is the firm’s second Asia-focused vehicle.

Electra Partners has raised £100m to deploy in areas including real estate alongside the capital of its main client, Electra Private Equity plc, as the latter returns to fully-blown private equity investment.

The Swiss-based private equity real estate firm founded by former Cerberus head in Germany, Ralph Winter, expects to invest in another €600 million of property this year.

Anecdotal evidence suggests German institutional investors are increasingly switching billions of euros invested directly in real estate into property funds.