January launch of office vehicle will be first of nine prompted by new leverage laws
Pirelli RE Opportunities is launching nine new funds as part of its drive into higher-yielding vehicles. One of the new office funds will be ready for international institutional investors in January.
Pirelli RE Opportunities already runs three opportunity vehicles under the new regime: the €500m Hospitality & Leisure fund; Raissa, an €800m office and industrial property vehicle; and Diomira, a mixed property and cash fund specialising in residential trading.
The nine new funds have been authorised by the Bank of Italy and will include three residential funds; two office funds; a hotel fund; a retail and entertainment fund; a social and public property vehicle; and a mixed-use fund. The vehicles will be seeded with assets from Pirelli RE and its existing joint-venture partners, which include global investment banks Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.
The fund manager, run by CEO Andrea Boeri, is a Pirelli RE division created last year to run opportunity funds enabled by new laws allowing unlimited leverage.
Italian property company Beni Stabili, which plans to turn into a REIT early next year, has also applied for consent to run similar opportunistic property vehicles but has yet to receive permission from the Bank of Italy. The company also plans to seed the new funds with its own properties, but not until 2008.
Meanwhile, Fimit has launched Italy’s first hotel property fund on the back of a recovery in tourism. The €150m, closed-ended Delta Immobiliare fund is Fimit’s third vehicle. Banking group Capitalia — through Banca di Roma, Banco di Sicilia, Bipop Carire and FinecoBank — will oversee the fund, which opened for investors last month.
