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«Morley and Paris-based DTZ Asset Management today announced the launch of Hexagone, a fund specialising in French regional property, to capitalise on investor demand for stable and high-quality French regional property assets.
The fund will have a primary focus on grade A and grade B office, light industrial and retail assets in French metropolitan areas (over 100,000 inhabitants) and logistic assets along major transportation lines. The allocation of funds towards the second ring around Paris will be a maximum of 30% of portfolio value. Paris CBD and the first ring around Paris will not be part of the investment strategy.
Morley and DTZ Asset Management have a long-standing relationship and a successful history of combining their respective expertise in property fund management and asset procurement to complete transactions.
Hexagone aims to optimise this combined expertise and knowledge to provide compelling investment opportunities in its target property sectors. The fund has already secured equity commitments of more than €30 million and aims to raise a total of €210 million.
Morley's Andreas von Gossler, Hexagone's fund manager, said: "The French regions offer an attractive investment case for real estate investors. Limited correlation to Paris and lower volatility of total returns in combination with solid market fundamentals should deliver attractive performance.
"The French regions continue to benefit from decentralisation, increasingly dynamic population growth and massive infrastructure investment, as well being the transition zone between north-east and south-west European integration.
"Investors in the fund will gain access to a portfolio of high-quality assets, with a target internal rate of return of 10% per annum over the 10 year life of the fund."
Patrice Genre, managing director and founder of DTZ Asset Management, said: "We aim to build a €600 million portfolio of high quality French regional assets, of which €84 million is about to be invested in a portfolio consisting of six assets in Lyon and the second ring around Paris.
"DTZ with its 20 offices in France offers one of the best platforms for the procurement and management of assets in regional France. DTZ Asset Management's strong position in the regional markets will deliver a strong pipeline of acquisition opportunities."
Hexagone will be set up as a Luxembourg specialised investment fund (a SIF) and structured as a fonds commun de placement - fonds d'investissement spécialisé (a FCP). Its constitutive documents have been submitted to the Luxembourg supervisory authority.
Key features of the Fund:
10 year lifespan from launch
Capital growth with a targeted average internal rate of return of 10% per annum over the Fund life
High stable income with a target net distribution yield of between 5 and 6% per annum when fully invested
A diversified portfolio of high quality property assets. To date, sixassets for €84 million (two in Lyon and four in the second ring around Paris) have been secured for the fund
Highly experienced investment management and property acquisition teams.
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For more information contact:
Angela Warburton
Corporate Communications
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7809 8618
Notes to editors:
Hexagone is an unregulated collective investment scheme for the purpose of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act. This press release is therefore intended only for those to whom the scheme can be promoted under the Act. As this is an unregulated collective investment scheme all or most of the protections provided by the UK regulatory system do not apply and compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme will not be available.
The content of this press release should not be viewed as an offer or solicitation to subscribe for shares or units of the fund by anyone in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is not lawful or in which the person making such offer or solicitation is not qualified to do so or to anyone to whom it is unlawful to make such offer or solicitation.
The value of an investment in the Fund and any income from it can go down as well as up. Investors may not get back the original amount invested.
About Morley
Morley is the UK-based asset management business of Aviva plc. Firms within the Morley group of companies manage £164bn (€223bn) from offices around the world as at 31 December 2007.
Morley manages both institutional and retail funds. It also acts as investment manager for a range of retail investment funds, marketed in the UK under the Norwich Union brand and in Europe under the Morley name.
The property team manages in excess of £31bn (€43bn) of UK and European property assets.
Aviva Investors
On 28 February 2008, Aviva plc announced it was combining its asset management businesses to create a single, globally integrated asset manager to be known as Aviva Investors - to be launched formally in September 2008.
Aviva Investors will be the global asset management business of Aviva plc, the world's fifth-largest insurer. Firms that will become Aviva Investors have £316 billion (US$623 billion) of assets under management as at 28 February 2008 and significant growth potential.
Operating under a single brand with more than 1,300 employees in 15 countries across the UK, Europe, North America and Asia, and subject to regulatory approval, Aviva Investors will combine businesses in the UK (Morley Fund Management), North America (Aviva Capital Management, MFM International, Aviva Investment Canada), France (Aviva Gestion d'Actifs), Australia (Portfolio Partners), Poland (CUIM Polska), Ireland (Hibernian Investment Managers), Spain (Aviva Gestion SGIIC (Gestora)) and Romania (CertInvest) and work in partnership with Delta Lloyd Asset Management in the Netherlands.
Recent Morley Awards
Morley's G7 Fund awarded Fixed Income Hedge Fund of the Year, Eurohedge Awards 2007
Best Property Manager - Financial News Excellence in Institutional Management Awards, Europe 2007
Morley ranks no.1 fund manager in the Thomson Extel SRI Survey, 2007
Property Manager of the Year, UK Pensions Awards 2007
Morley's G7 Fund awarded Fixed Income Hedge Fund of the Year, Eurohedge Awards 2006
Property Fund Manager of the Year, Pensions Management Awards 2006
Best Commitment to Raising Standards of Trustee Education, Engaged Investor Awards 2006
Property Fund Manager of the Year, Property Week Awards 2006
DTZ Asset Management
DTZ Asset Management is one of Europe's leading real estate management companies. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Paris, it is part of the principal pillar of the DTZ Holdings plc. The DTZ group is a global real estate adviser, with more than 12 000 people operating from 200 offices in 40 countries, listed in the London Stock Exchange.
DTZ Asset Management has experienced steady growth since its beginning and now employs around 100 people. With asset under management of € c3 billion, DTZ Asset Management is active in asset management for third parties covering all Continental Europe with offices in France and Germany.
DTZ Asset Management's unique position is to provide its clients with an effective response to the rapidly changing real estate landscape where international investors are competing fiercely. DTZ Asset Management offers personalized services from strategy definition to sourcing to acquisitions with debt financing, and up to dispositions upon execution of agreed asset management strategies». (CS delle Società)
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