2010AWARDS & AnnuAL REVIEW - PERE

More documents

Recommendations

Info

AnnuAl review | euroZone The hunting party opportunity funds in europe went ‘sharp shooting’ for investments in a hostile environment By robin Marriott At the beginning of 2010, the US was the world’s most attractive distressed real estate market and Asia was a strong growth opportunity. Europe was neither of those things. Several issues seemed to conspire against Europe becoming a hot-bed of private equity real estate activity. First, there was the sovereign debt crisis that enveloped Greece, took hold of Ireland and threatened to pistol-whip Spain and Portugal. Second, Europe’s banks still were not being, well, American about their real estate loans and refused for the most part to take write-downs. Adding to the grief, banks weren’t really lending all that much either. Lastly, the European Union, the European Commission and, in some cases, individual nations decided to send down a regulatory plague of biblical proportions upon the heads of those managing real estate funds. Poor CFOs gradually got swamped with pending regulatory reforms on everything from the taxation of carry to marketing funds and hedging against interest rate movements. Then, in a cruel twist of fate, yields continued to fall for prime real estate in capital cities because so much demand existed for safe assets. That made the marketplace too crowded for opportunity funds in locations such as London, Paris and Frankfurt. All this came at a time when Asia – China in particular – seemed to be on a strong growth trajectory, while the US offered large bankruptcy and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp-sponsored deals. Yes, 2010 as it unfolded seemed to be a tough time to be an opportunity fund operating in Europe. And yet, the feeling on the ground was that things actually were beginning to look up. Indeed, real interest rates stayed low, so the cost of financing theoretically was cheap. Inflation remained high, reinforcing investors’ desire to buy property as an inflation hedge. In addition, the euro gathered strength towards the end of the year. During those months, opportunity funds took to ‘sharp shooting’ investments in difficult countries. They even were finding investment opportunities in Spain, where sale- 40 <strong>PERE</strong> | 2010 AwArds & AnnuAl review The excitement of industry consolidation, some precision opportunistic investing and some signs that banks were beginning to sell some portfolios made it feel like 2010 wasn’t so bad after all leaseback deals with Spanish savings banks and corporates generated plenty of buying opportunity. Some brave souls bought land to develop shopping centres. Germany and the Nordic countries actually were showing encouraging GDP growth, so both those parts of Europe saw capital returning. And even though rents seemed soft, Paris’ business district and London’s financial epicenter did see deals by opportunity funds. Even assets outside of capital cities witnessed opportunistic money coming in. A recent example would be The Blackstone Group, reported to be the preferred bidder to buy Chiswick Park business park near central London for £480 million (€573 million; $744 million). The deal would be the New York firm’s first UK real estate acquisition in around 15 months. While opportunity funds were picking off deals despite the challenges, there was wider industry consolidation going on all around them. By the time the annual Munich property show, EXPO Real, swung round in October, there had been plenty of M&A to mention. Just before the show, London- based Invista Real Estate Investment Management said it would either be sold or become the subject of a management buyout. On day one of the show, European private equity real estate mainstay Europa Capital Partners announced a sale of a majority interest to Rockefeller Group International, the New York-based real estate investment firm. The day after the EXPO show, the real estate fund management division of boutique London bank Close Brothers was sold to Alpha Real Capital. Other corporate activity included HSBC’s decision to spin out its real estate and infrastructure fund management business, the MBO of Bank of American Merrill Lynch’s European platform and the early stage notion of a management buyout of Valad Group in Europe. There were more besides, but the granddaddy of them all remained the “strategic review” that ING Group was conducting for ING Real Estate Investment Management. By the end of the year, the excitement of industry consolidation, some precision opportunistic investing and some signs that banks were beginning to sell some portfolios made it feel like 2010 wasn’t so bad after all.
For further information please contact: London (t: +44 20 7006 1000) Nick Benson nick.benson@cliffordchance.com Nigel Clark nigel.clark@cliffordchance.com Ed Gander edward.gander@cliffordchance.com Nigel Hatfield nigel.hatfield@cliffordchance.com Hong Kong (t: +852 2825 8888) Matthias Feldmann matthias.feldmann@cliffordchance.com Mark Shipman mark.shipman@cliffordchance.com James Walker james.walker@cliffordchance.com Singapore (t: +65 6410 2200) Han Ming Ho hanming.ho@cliffordchance.com New York (t: +1 212 878 8000) Jeff Berman jeffrey.berman@cliffordchance.com Roger Singer roger.singer@cliffordchance.com “This Funds Titan” Chambers and Partners Global 2010 Clifford Chance provides comprehensive, commercially-focused legal advice to both sponsors and investors on the structuring, marketing, establishment and operation of private equity real estate funds. Working as international counsel we have helped many of the leading global names in private equity real estate raise their funds with institutional investors located across Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. Our international network of specialist private funds lawyers enables us to provide a combination of global market knowledge and local legal, regulatory and tax expertise in key jurisdictions. Our fundraising practice is also supported by a leading real estate transactions group. We are delighted that the quality of our unique service to real estate fund managers has been recognised, again, by <strong>PERE</strong>: � European Law Firm of the Year 2010 (Fund Formation) � European Law Firm of the Year 2010 (Transactions) � Asian Law Firm of the Year 2010 (Fund Formation) Clifford Chance LLP www.cliffordchance.com
Page 1 and 2: MAR 2011 | perenews.com FOR THE WOR
Page 3 and 4: Senior Editor, Real Estate Erik Kol
Page 5 and 6: OWNERS OPERATORS & INVESTORS IN REA
Page 8 and 9: GLOBAL pg. 8 GLOBAL INDUSTRY FIGURE
Page 10 and 11: GLOBAL INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
Page 12 and 13: GLOBAL When it comes to deals, you
Page 14 and 15: nORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY FIGURE OF TH
Page 16 and 17: nORTH AMERICA FUNDRAISE OF THE YEAR
Page 18: EuROPE INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR
Page 21 and 22: We are honored to receive the PERE
Page 23 and 24: ASIA INDUSTRY FIGURE OF THE YEAR AS
Page 25 and 26: Brazil Canada China France Germany
Page 27 and 28: AnnuAL REVIEW
Page 29 and 30: Taking all this into consideration,
Page 31 and 32: AnnuAL REVIEW | AMERICAS
Page 33 and 34: Real Estate... it’s our world Suc
Page 35 and 36: As one real estate deal professiona
Page 37 and 38: Investors, among others. After bein
Page 39 and 40: In June, Morgan Stanley Real Estate
Page 41: AnnuAL REVIEW | EuROPE
Page 45 and 46: seas real estate and had been large
Page 47 and 48: 3Throwing down the gauntlet the tow
Page 49 and 50: Political football An excerpt from
Page 51 and 52: (L to R) Bernard Phang and Peter Pe
Page 53 and 54: AnnuAL REVIEW | ASIA
Page 55 and 56: ThE DEfInITIvE guIDE TO rEal EsTaTE
Page 57 and 58: Trap for some, honey for others des
Page 59 and 60: disaffected investor pools to do li
Page 61 and 62: A warning to all general partners a
Page 63 and 64: AnnuAL REVIEW | DATA
Page 65 and 66: 2010 Rank Name of Firm Headquarters
Page 67 and 68: EUROPE 2011 REALISING GROWTH IN NEW
Page 69: PERE MAr 2011

2010AWARDS & AnnuAL REVIEW - PERE

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?