British Land has appointed fund manager Internos Global Investors to manage the €230m (£193m) Pillar Retail Europark Fund.
The firm, set up by Jos Short and Andrew Thornton, will provide the closed-ended Luxembourg based fund with advisory and asset management services.
The appointment takes Internos’ funds under management to €4.1bn.
PREF is currently backed by British Land and a selection of institutional investors. It owns ten retail parks in Spain, France, Portugal and Italy with a collective value of €230m.
As part of the integration of the management of the fund, most of British Land’s personnel in Spain and France have transferred to Internos.
This is the eighth fund manager replacement mandate for Internos since its formation in 2008. Over the past six months, it has acquired Commerz Real’s €1.6bn real estate Spezialfonds business; has been appointed investment manager of Local Shopping REIT; and held the second close of its Hotel Real Estate Fund with €210m of equity.
It has also won two further mandates: to manage a French portfolio for a Swedish pension fund and, from the Saxony Doctors Pension Fund in Germany, to invest up to €200m in value-add European hotel real estate.
Internos executive chairman Jos Short said: “This appointment by British Land is a great endorsement of our pan-European investment management platform. We look forward to maximising returns for investors at this point in the European real estate cycle.”
Matt Walker, head of fund management at Internos, added: “We have been appointed with a clear mandate from British Land to undertake intensive asset management measures ahead of progressively selling as markets recover.
“We have considerable experience in managing and transacting retail parks with a current portfolio of more than 100 retail properties across several continental European jurisdictions.”
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
