Deals

Pramerica adds S$250m to Southeast Asia fund

The real estate arm of insurer Prudential Financial has raised S$250 million from new investors for its core retail fund this year. 

-

Pramerica Real Estate Investors (PREI), the real estate investment management and advisory arm of US insurance giant Prudential Financial, has wrapped up the first phase of new capital raising effort for its open-ended, core real estate fund Pramerica AsiaRetail with S$250 million (€147 million; $202 million) of new commitments, PERE has learned.

PREI consolidated two closed-ended funds from its Asian Retail Mall series to form vehicle in late 2011, bringing 11 suburban shopping malls comprising more than 3 million square feet in Singapore and Malaysia under the umbrella of Pramerica AsiaRetail. At the time of its formation, AsiaRetail had S$3 billion of assets.

At the time, PREI said the move to consolidate its retail fund series into one open-ended vehicle, the firm’s first in the region, was made on behalf of the fund series’ investor base, some of which were looking for greater short-term liquidity while others were seeking to retain ownership of the its assets and benefit from a long-term yield.

Since the 2011 announcement, PREI has focused on meeting the fund’s investors’ various requirements but this year has seen the firm open the vehicle to new capital. PERE revealed in March how PREI was seeing S$500 million from new investors. PREI declined to comment on fundraising.

PREI is expected to use the S$250 million it has brought aboard so far for asset enhancement, deleveraging as well as for making additional investments.

AsiaRetail is targeting returns of between 8 percent and 10 percent over the medium- to long-term. In a previous statement, PREI has said the fund would be used to expand, hold and actively manage the assets “seeking to maximize returns for institutional investors interested in investment exposure in the Singapore and Malaysia markets.”

PREI has been in Asia since 1994 in which time it has built a real estate investment management platform of more than $4.7 billion in net assets under management as of 30 June this year. The firm manages about $38.7 billion in net assets globally.