US fund manager Orion Capital Managers is to increase its exposure to the UK property market with its second €1.6bn European fund.
Orion European Real Estate Fund II aims to raise €400m by early next year. The fund, with 75% gearing, will have an acquisition capability of €1.6bn.
“In the first fund, we invested relatively little in the UK, but we expect to invest significantly more. The same applies for Madrid and Barcelona. We see better relative value in these cities than other markets,” said Van Stults, a founding partner of Orion.
The new fund, which will invest in office, industrial, residential and retail, will also target central Europe for the first time.
Orion’s first fund has completed 29 acquisitions with a gross value of €1.4bn, of which 11 have been sold. Stults said its second fund would be similarly sized, allowing it to invest in a variety of deals. “We can undertake individual deals which are important but also larger deals,” Stults said.
Orion made its investment debut in the UK in 2002, when it jointly purchased a 47-room hotel in Park Street, Mayfair, with Marriott International.
See December’s Europroperty
