Catalyst Capital, the European real estate investment and asset
management firm, has acquired a portfolio of properties in the UK for £54.85
million.
Catalyst’s new European real estate fund,
Catalyst European Property Fund II (CEPF II), has purchased the Regatta
portfolio, comprising 19 properties from KPMG, acting as administrator to De
Stefano Property Group Limited and certain of its subsidiaries.
The properties, which are predominantly
retail, are located in the south east of England in locations, such as London,
Trowbridge, Windsor, Reading and Bromley. Key assets include Brooks Shopping
Centre in Winchester and the Market Place development site in Henley.
GVA acted for Catalyst and CBRE for the
vendor.
Guy Wilson, a partner of Catalyst
Capital, said: “We are excited about the asset management initiatives and
opportunities in this portfolio, in particular, progressing the retail
development scheme at Henley and regenerating the Brooks centre in Winchester”.
Catalyst announced in June the first close of CEPF II, a €1.25 billion
real estate fund, having raised equity commitments of €150 million from global
institutional investors.
Almost half of the initial commitments
have already been deployed in three separate transactions in the UK and Europe.
In addition to the Regatta portfolio, CEPF II has purchased another UK
portfolio of 18 properties at a net initial yield of 10%.
CEPF II will invest in the office and retail sectors and,
geographically, in the countries in Europe where Catalyst has an established
presence: the UK, France, Belgium, Germany and Poland, where Catalyst believes
there is the potential to source attractive value-creation opportunities and
capitalise on the market dislocation between prime and secondary assets. It
will target a diversified portfolio of income-producing assets and development
and refurbishment opportunities.