Real I.S. raises €600m for latest eurozone commercial fund

The Munich-based commercial real estate fund initiator Real I.S. has fully placed its fifth fund in its Eurozone property BGV series of funds, raising €600m from institutional investors. The fund is targeting a volume of about €1bn.

About 80% of the fund has already been invested, in core and core-plus office, retail and logistics properties in the primary target markets of Germany, France, Belgium and Luxemburg. Already bought are retail properties in Berlin, Hamburg and Amsterdam, offices in Munich, Hamburg, Hanover, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Lyon and The Hague.

The five funds in the BGV series have invested over €2.5bn so far. For BGV V, Real I.S. is looking for another €50m in equity. “For the sixth fund in the BGV series, we already have equity commitments of €100m,” said Chairman Jochen Schenk. The fund strategy of BGV VI will be similar to its predecessor but will add budget hotels to the asset mix.

Board chairman Jochen Schenk said that the BGV series of funds seemed to have struck a strong chord with institutional investors’s needs. So far the five funds have raised more than €2.5bn, with BGV VI already enjoying equity commitments of about €100bn, said Schenk. The next fund will operate a similar strategy to the earlier funds, but with the addition of budget hotels and some logistic assets.

Real I.S. is BayernLB’s asset management and real estate fund provider, and a member of the Sparkasse group of German savings banks. It has raised more than €8bn across more than 100 fund products since 1991 for private and institutional investors.