Morley and SachsenFonds Asset Management GmbH are pleased to announce that their German Retail Investment Property Fund (GRIP) has successfully completed the acquisition of its first six property assets for a total investment of €53 million.
Morley and SachsenFonds Asset Management GmbH are pleased to announce that their German Retail Investment Property Fund (GRIP) has successfully completed the acquisition of its first six property assets for a total investment of €53 million.
The six retail properties are in Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Pfalz and Baden Wuerttemberg. In addition, the Fund is conducting due diligence on a further €83 million of acquisitions from a pipeline of properties developed by SachsenFonds.
The GRIP Fund is a partnership between Morley, which is responsible for fund management, and SachsenFonds, which sources and manages the property assets. So far, the Fund has total equity commitments of €61 million from four seed investors, with a target of €120 million.
GRIP is an extension of the successful relationship between Morley and SachsenFonds on a suite of funds that also includes the Aviva Central European Property Fund and the LogAxes logistics property fund.
Morley's Robert Wood, GRIP Fund Manager said: "These properties have created a quality foundation for the GRIP Fund. We expect German consumer and retail spending to grow in the medium term and these retail schemes should allow the GRIP Fund to flourish in those market conditions.
"GRIP has a strong and effective management team with a clear partnership track record. SachsenFonds has an intimate knowledge of the German market, which allows us to quickly identify and move on opportunities as they arise.
"The Fund has been defensively positioned with the majority of centres hosting discount retail stores that are well placed to weather any changes in market conditions and cater to the cost conscious German consumer. Yields are attractive averaging 7.00% and above, and we believe that the relatively low rents offer scope for growth in the longer term."
The GRIP Fund is aimed at institutional investors with a minimum €3 million investment. The fund is open for investment, will be leveraged up to 60% with an initial target GAV of €300m that may be extended to €400 million, if there is excess demand.
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For more information contact:
Angela Warburton
Corporate Communications
Telephone: 020 7809 8618
Notes to editors
GRIP is an unregulated collective investment scheme for the purpose of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act. This press release is therefore intended only for those to whom the scheme can be promoted under the Act. As this is an unregulated collective investment scheme all or most of the protections provided by the UK regulatory system do not apply and compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme will not be available.
The content of this press release should not be viewed as an offer or solicitation to subscribe for shares or units of the fund by anyone in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not lawful or in which the person making such offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or to anyone to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation.
The value of an investment in the Fund and any income from it can go down as well as up. Investors may not get back the original amount invested.
Morley
- Morley is the UK-based asset management business of Aviva plc. Firms within the Morley group of companies manage £157bn (€198 bn) from offices around the world as at 31 March 2007.
- Morley manages both institutional and retail funds. It also acts as investment manager for a range of retail investment funds, marketed in the UK under the Norwich Union brand and in Europe under the Morley name.
- The property team manages in excess of £29 bn (€37 bn) of UK and European property assets.
Aviva Investors
On 28 February 2008, Aviva plc announced it was combining its asset management businesses to create a single, globally integrated asset manager to be known as Aviva Investors - to be launched formally in September 2008.
Aviva Investors will be the global asset management business of Aviva plc, the world's fifth-largest insurance group. Firms that will become Aviva Investors have £316 billion ($623 billion) of assets under management as at 28 February 2008 and significant growth potential.
Operating under a single brand with more than 1,300 employees in 15 countries across the UK, Europe, North America and Asia, and subject to regulatory approval, Aviva Investors will combine businesses in the UK (Morley Fund Management), North America (Aviva Capital Management, MFM International, Aviva Investment Canada), France (Aviva Gestion d'Actifs), Australia (Portfolio Partners), Poland (CUIM Polska), Ireland (Hibernian Investment Managers), Spain (Aviva Gestion SGIIC (Gestora)) and Romania (CertInvest) and work in partnership with Delta Lloyd Asset Management in the Netherlands.
Recent Morley Awards
- Property Manager of the Year, UK Pensions Awards 2007 and 2008
- Morley's G7 Fund awarded Fixed Income Hedge Fund of the Year, Eurohedge Awards 2006 and 2007
- Best Property Manager - Financial News Excellence in Institutional Management Awards, Europe 2007
- Morley ranks no.1 fund manager in the Thomson Extel SRI Survey, 2007
- Equity End User of the Year - Derivatives Week DEAL Awards 2006
- Property Fund Manager of the Year, Pensions Management Awards 2006
- Best Commitment to Raising Standards of Trustee Education, Engaged Investor Awards 2006
- Property Fund Manager of the Year, Property Week Awards 2006
- SRI Provider of the Year, Global Pensions 2006
SachsenFonds
SachsenFonds is a Munich-based initiator and asset manager for closed-ended funds that invest in real estate, renewable energy and airplane leasing. Having offices in Munich, Prague, Warsaw and Sydney, the company that is part of KanAm Group has € 4.7bn assets under management and acts for both private and institutional investors.