Prudential corrals $285m for Mexico industrial fund

PREI was one of four real estate firms seeking to raise $1.3bn from Mexican pensions via the country’s stock exchange.

Prudential Real Estate Investors has raised $284.5 million from Mexican institutional investors to target the country’s industrial sector.

Parsippany, New Jersey-based PREI was one of four real estate firms that were last month given the green light to raise capital from Mexico’s Afores system of private pension funds. The other firms included AMB Properties, Artha Capital and Mexico Retail Properties (MRP).

PREI Latin America said in a statement it had raised MXN 3.7 billion pesos (€223.4 million; $284.5 million for the closed-ended, publicly traded PRUMEX Industrial III fund, which will target industrial portfolios or individual properties that cater to Mexican or American consumers. The vehicle, which had an original target of MXN 6.5 billion pesos will have a 12-year maturity.

Afores have long invested in bonds and traditional equities, but are beginning to invest in real estate thanks to regulatory changes.

Ruy Halffter

“Afores have long invested in bonds and traditional equities, but are beginning to invest in real estate thanks to regulatory changes,” said Ruy Halffter, executive director of BBVA Bancomer, placement agent for the fund.

In July, PERE reported that PREI, AMB, Artha and MRP were given the go-ahead to launch capital development certificates on Mexico’s stock exchange. CKDs are a form of trust fund security created by the Mexican government to help finance infrastructure projects and have been used to channel capital from domestic institutional investors into private partnerships.

AMB’s MXN 3.3 billion pesos industrial development fund was set to complete its listing by the end of July, with AMB co-investing 20 percent of the vehicle. AMB’s fund will focus on acquiring logistics platforms in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey – the country’s three biggest cities – and in other cities where AMB is already present, such as Tijuana, Reynosa, Toluca and Querétaro.

I Cuadrada, sponsored by Mexico Retail Properties, is aiming to raise a 15-year, MXN 4 billion pesos fund by 10 September to invest in transport infrastructure, social accommodation, healthcare projects, water and waste water opportunities across Mexico.

Artha Capital’s Artha will seek to sell MXN 2.5 billion of CDKs on the stock exchange also by 10 September, to invest in real estate and industrial infrastructure over 10 years.

Separately, PREI appointed David DeVos as its new global sustainability officer charged with reduce the firm’s environmental footprint. DeVos co-founded consulting firm Ecoxera and was also director of corporate sustainability at US department store Kohl’s.