The We Company has launched a new global acquisition and management platform, in partnership with Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec real estate subsidiary Ivanhoé Cambridge.
The new platform, known as ARK, is being supported by ‘substantial capital’ from Ivanhoé Cambridge, and will initially look to deploy $2.9bn of equity, focusing on acquiring, developing, and managing real estate assets in global gateway cities and high-growth secondary markets on behalf of its co-working and serviced office business, WeWork.
The We Company will be the majority owner of ARK and will combine it with its WeWork Property Advisors investment fund, which The We Company embarked upon in 2016 in partnership with private equity firm Rhône Group.
ARK will be chaired by Steven Langman, managing director of Rhône Group and a member of The We Company’s board of directors.
In addition Wendy Silverstein, formerly of New York Reit and Vornado Realty Trust, will serve as ARK’s chief investment officer.
Rich Gomel, managing partner for ARK, said: “The launch of ARK will help drive growth by leveraging The We Company’s extensive real estate experience and network.
“ARK has been set up to capitalise on that opportunity, and allow us to provide different partnership options for the real estate community to participate in the growth and expansion of the We Company.”
Sylvain Fortier, chief investment and innovation officer at Ivanhoé Cambridge, added: “Like The We Company, we believe there is enormous upside in disrupting traditional norms of real estate.
“We share the same vision, commitment to social responsibility, and long-term approach towards real estate, making this a natural partnership and one that we are confident will be transformational for both companies.”
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