2019-09-16 9:25 CET, Europe, Germany | Investment Management | Press release
Berlin-based Catella Residential Investment Management (CRIM) has launched its Catella European Student Housing Fund II (CESHF II), with approximately €100 million in capital commitments from institutional investors at a first close. The fund is expected to invest up to €250 million across European markets in the next two years. Its first acquisition is an apartment building in the German city of Mannheim for about €38 million. CESHF II’s second close is planned for the first quarter of 2020.
CRIM’s first European Student Housing Fund, launched in 2013, was the first pan-European student accommodation investment vehicle. Since inception, it has delivered an average internal rate of return (IRR) of 6.9% per annum. Catella started investing in student housing in 2010 and has become the largest pan-European platform in this rapidly expanding sector. It now manages 40 properties with over 9,000 apartments in 30 locations across Europe, with total assets under management valued at approximately €900 million.
Michael Keune, Managing Director, CRIM, said: "Education is a global growth market and the market for student housing in Europe is extremely strong. High demand is particularly being driven by the expansion of English-taught degree programmes in European universities, which are attracting international students in rapidly increasing numbers. The supply of purpose-built student housing is failing to keep pace with this demand, so young people still find it as hard to find a place to live in accommodation catering specifically to their needs as they did 10 years ago. Catella is the leading real estate manager tackling this issue in markets across Europe and we have a well-filled supply pipeline of properties in Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands.“
CESHF II’s first acquisition in Mannheim, in the southwest German state of Baden-Württemberg, is a recently completed property of 208 apartments for up to 313 students and is located in the city’s attractive new development area of Franklin Areal -- a former U.S. army base. The seller is the developer P+B Planen + Bauen GmbH & Co. KG from Sankt Augustin, which has been successfully developing student accommodation in the German market for many years and has previously completed projects in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Mainz and Freiburg. The high-quality student apartments are marketed as “Campo Novo” by Hildebrandt-Immobilien.
Catella’s new pan-European student housing fund is primarily targeting growing university cities in Germany, Austria, France, the Benelux and Spain, but will also consider assets and locations that meet its investment criteria in the UK, Denmark, Portugal and Poland. CESHF II is expected to aggregate a broadly diversified portfolio of around 20 properties within the next two years. The minimum investment in CESHF II, which is structured as an open-ended Special AIF under the German Investment Act, is €5.0 million for a term of 10 years plus extension options. The fund is targeting returns of 4.5% to 5.5% a year under the German Investment Funds Association (BVI ) rules for calculation. The AIFM-platform for CESHF II is provided by Institutional Investment Partners GmbH (2IP) in Frankfurt.
About Catella Residential Investment Management GmbH (CRIM)
Catella initiated its first one billion-euro European residential fund in 2007 and this has produced average net returns for investors of 8.0% a year since launch until end-July 2019. The first specialised European Student Housing Fund was launched in 2013.
CRIM is a subsidiary of Swedish Catella AB in Stockholm and its residential real estate business includes portfolio management, acquisition and sales and asset management. The company manages and advises several funds and mandates with assets under management of €3.4 billion across nine countries in Europe.
For more information contact:
Lisette van der Ham
Head of PR & Corporate Communications
Catella Residential Investment Management GmbH
Upper West, Kantstraße 164,
10623 Berlin
M: +31 (0)6 83200561
E: lisette.vanderham@catella-investment.com
W: https://www.catella.com/immobilienfonds
