La Française teams up with EBS-RMI for €400m German retail fund
International asset manager La Française, in conjunction with the Real Estate Management Institute (REMI) at EBS University in Wiesbaden, has launched an innovative German retail real estate fund, structured as an open-ended Real Estate AIF under German law and administrated by IntReal.
The fund, LF Konsumfonds Deutschland which is targeting total investment volume of €400 million from German institutional investors, is aiming to generate sustainable cash flows from investments in core assets.
The fund should benefit from the positive consumer climate in Germany and will invest in local shopping centres, retail parks and discounters (basic retail) as well as inner-city retail, commercial buildings and high street retail agglomerates.
Assets will be sourced and managed by La Française’s Frankfurt based subsidiary, La Française Forum Real Estate Partners, headed by Jens Goettler, and will undergo a rigorous selection process . Over the past 18 months, La Française Forum Real Estate Partners has invested over €350 million on the German market.
Gregor Volk, managing director of the German branch of La Française AM International, said: “The LK Konsumfonds Deutschland is the first German real estate fund to cooperate with a University. Investors will benefit from the research and teachings of a leading real estate faculty, the Real Estate Management Institute at EBS University, as well as profiting from a continual feedback of current scientific knowledge.”
Professor Jan Mutl, head of the Real Estate Management Institute of the EBS University, says: "We are pleased to collaborate with La Francaise on such an innovative project. With the integration of theory and practice, investors will gain added-value."
The Paris-headquartered La Française has over €56 bn in assets under management, of which close to €14bn is invested in real estate. The company is 94% owned by Credit Mutuel Nord Europe, a banking and insurance group present in Northern France and Belgium.