Ardian Infrastructure sells €1bn+ portfolio

Ardian

Paris, 12 December 2017 – Ardian, the independent private investment company, today announces it has signed an agreement for the sale of a €1bn+ portfolio of assets after a competitive auction. The Investors involved are APG and AXA, both existing shareholders of the portfolio since 2006. Ardian will remain the asset manager and advisor of the portfolio.

The portfolio comes from Ardian’s second generation infrastructure fund which closed in 2007, and consists of eight mature core infrastructure assets which are well diversified in terms of geography and sectors. The transaction follows Ardian’s commitment when the fund was launched, to explore liquidity options for investors after the ten-year mark.

The infrastructure portfolio includes relevant involvement in multiple strategic assets: Italian gas distribution company 2i Rete Gas, French LGV Lisea, Spanish toll road Trados M-45, French rail GSM communications’ network Synerail, French renewable energy company Kallista Energy, Italian Renewable energy company 3 New & Partners, French toll road A88 and Italifian hospital HISI Legnano.

Mathias Burghardt, Member of the Executive Committee at Ardian, said: “Ardian Infrastructure is a pioneer in the market. We continually explore how we can meet the different demands of our investors both by providing liquidity and maximising returns. Indeed, all assets are valued above the net asset value, offering attractive returns for our investors. Ardian will continue its long-term partnership with AXA and APG, and we look forward to continuing to add value by assisting them in the management of the various assets with our deep knowledge of the portfolio.”

Marcus Thiel, Chief Investment Officer at AXA said: “This investment is a new step in the long-term partnership that we have with Ardian. Collaborating with APG in such core infrastructure assets perfectly fits the needs and the strategy of a long-term investor such as AXA. We share the same perspective on value creation and we are confident that these assets will continue to grow, benefitting from Ardian Infrastructure’s expertise in terms of management.”

Jan-Willem Ruisbroek, Senior Portfolio Infrastructure Manager at APG explains: “This transaction follows on APG’s strategy to acquire large portfolios of high quality core infrastructure assets, while at the same time significantly enhancing the controls over those assets. Club deals with like-minded investors like AXA, supplemented with leading asset managers like Ardian Infrastructure, is one of our preferred routes of deploying capital. Furthermore, this transaction contributes to our Sustainable Development Investment targets, with significant exposure to renewable energy and high speed rail.”

Transaction is subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities.

 

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian is a world-leading private investment house with assets of US$66bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia. The company is majority-owned by its employees. It keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and focuses on delivering excellent investment performance to its global investor base.

Through its commitment to shared outcomes for all stakeholders, Ardian’s activities fuel individual, corporate and economic growth around the world.

Holding close its core values of excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship, Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 470 employees working from twelve offices across Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Zurich), North America (New York, San Francisco) and Asia (Beijing, Singapore). It manages funds on behalf of 640 clients through five pillars of investment expertise: Funds of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.

ABOUT APG GROUP

Financial services provider APG Group provides services such as executive consultancy, asset management, pension administration, pension communication and employers services. APG performs these activities on behalf of (pension) funds and employers in the sectors of education, government, construction, cleaning and glass cleaning, housing associations, energy and utility companies, sheltered employment and medical specialists.

APG manages € 467 billion (October 2017) in pension assets for its clients in these sectors. It also offers supplementary income products for individuals as well as the administration of defined contribution schemes for Premium Pension Institutions (PPIs), (company) pension funds, insurance companies and asset managers. APG works for over 40,000 employers, providing the pension for one in five families in the Netherlands (approximately 4.5 million participants).

 

ABOUT THE AXA GROUP

The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 165,000 employees serving 107 million clients in 64 countries. In 2016, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 100.2 billion and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro 5.7 billion. AXA had Euro 1,429 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2016.

The AXA ordinary share is listed on compartment A of Euronext Paris under the ticker symbol CS (ISN FR 0000120628 – Bloomberg: CS FP – Reuters: AXAF.PA). AXA’s American Depository Share is also quoted on the OTC QX platform under the ticker symbol AXAHY.

The AXA Group is included in the main international SRI indexes, such as Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) and FTSE4GOOD.

It is a founding member of the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Principles for Sustainable Insurance and a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment.

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KKR Injects Additional Capital to Support Joulon’s Asset Management Platform

KKR

Capital injection enhances Joulon’s acquisition activity

Joulon completes acquisition of global engineering and project management company Harris Pye

DUBAI–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Joulon (the “Company”), a leading asset management services provider to the energy industry, today announced that KKR has injected additional capital to support the Company’s ongoing acquisition activity. With KKR’s continued support, Joulon has completed its acquisition of Harris Pye Engineering Group Limited (“Harris Pye”), a global provider of engineering and project management services to the marine, offshore and industrial sectors.

Joulon’s platform provides comprehensive Asset Management services to the energy industry. The Company’s business model is based on acquiring businesses with established track records and complementary global expertise in maintenance, repair and overhaul (“MRO”) services to the oil and gas industry. By combining and enhancing these companies’ expertise and synergies, Joulon is able to offer truly integrated solutions to customers in the global energy industry.

Harris Pye is the latest addition to Joulon’s platform of well-established, global companies in the energy services and manufacturing segment. Since Joulon’s launch 18 months ago, the Company has completed 11 acquisitions, including: OES, Global One, Sara Sae, DSL, Excel Marco, JVS, CPC, Aggrego, STS, Thanh Ngoc, RAM Design and DronePro.

Ashish Shastry, Member and Head of Southeast Asia at KKR, said: “KKR is very pleased with Joulon’s progress in building a unique franchise that puts customers first by providing a high quality one stop solution to meet their global asset management needs in the fast moving energy industry. We look forward to building on Joulon’s success to date by deploying further capital into Joulon and helping the Company continue to grow, enhance its service offering and support its customers.”

Founders, Deepak Munganahalli, Chairman of Joulon and Abhishek Kumar, Vice Chairman and Group CEO of Joulon, said: “We are grateful to Joulon’s customers for their continued support and guidance. With a growing workforce of more than 2500 people and 50 workshops and offices worldwide, Joulon aims to be the global partner of choice for leading energy industry companies. With the continued partnership with KKR, Joulon is even better positioned to execute its growth strategy to develop a leading global energy services platform to address the specific requirements of asset owners and operators.”

The Project Management and Execution segment has become increasingly important given the impact the category has on customers’ total cost of ownership of assets. Joulon is committed to solving Project Management and Execution challenges for its customers and its latest acquisition of Harris Pye, further deepens the Company’s offerings across key verticals. Joulon will continue to acquire businesses and enhance its Project Management and Execution capabilities to assist customers as they undertake reactivation and modification projects in the coming years.

The investment in Joulon comes from multiple funds managed or advised by KKR. Further details of KKR’s investment and Joulon’s acquisition of Harris Pye were not disclosed.

About Joulon

Joulon offers comprehensive asset management services to the energy industry through its portfolio of established manufacturers and service providers, complemented by a global team of experts with decades of asset ownership and management experience. The platform provides a complete range of offerings from individual products and services to integrated end-to-end asset management solutions. Joulon employs the industry’s latest technologies and processes to provide the entire suite of solutions to customers as they continuously look to improve the efficiency of their asset ownership and operations. For additional information, please visit www.joulon.com.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit and, through its strategic manager partnerships, hedge funds. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and driving growth and value creation with KKR portfolio companies. KKR invests its own capital alongside its partners’ capital and provides financing solutions and investment opportunities through its capital markets business. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds. For additional information about KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR), please visit KKR’s website at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co.

Anita Davis, +852 3602 7335
Anita.Davis@KKR.com
or
Sard Verbinnen & Co
Rick Carew/Miles Radcliffe-Trenner, +852 3899 6630
KKR-SVC@sardverb.com

Source: KKR

 

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Almi Invest sells software company input port to Addnode Group

Almi Invest

Almi Invest makes an exit and sell its stake in software company input port to Addnode Group, together with the other owners. Inport develop logistical solutions for ports, terminals and shipping companies. The company is the leading supplier in its market segment with sales of about 25 million.

Inport headquartered in Karlstad has expanded greatly in recent years and the customer list has grown to include important logistics hubs such as Copenhagen and Stavanger. The company has its own software suite PORTIT used by more than 90% of the Swedish port companies. Through the development of digital services has hmarknadspositionen strengthened.

– Almi Invest invested in 2014 and has, through active Board work contributed to a change in strategy with increased digitization of InPort services, says Ulf Green, Fund Manager at Almi Invest. This has resulted in increased competitiveness and strong growth. The success is largely due to the staff and management of the company as well as to develop services in close cooperation with customers. With multiple sales multiple on invested capital will free up risk capital for further investments in early growth.

– Our ports play a socially critical role in view of its importance for modern sustainable logistics chains and the proper functioning import and export business. With input port on board strengthens Addnode Group’s position as the leading provider of software solutions for sustainable cities and communities, says Andreas Wikholm, head of Addnode Group Process Management.

– It feels great to pass the torch to the Addnode Group, says Ulf Green. It is an experienced and qualified buyers who means stability and increased resources for InPort customers.

Addnode Group acquires, operates and develops the entrepreneurial company that provides software and services to markets in which Addnode Group has, or can take a leading position. Addnode Group is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm.

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GSO to Launch New Direct Lending Business; Announces Transition Plan for FS Investments Funds

Blackstone

New York, December 11, 2017 – GSO Capital Partners LP (together with its credit-focused affiliates “GSO”), Blackstone’s (NYSE: BX) credit platform, today announced that it will launch a new, fully integrated, internal direct lending business – combining the firm’s superior origination and investment capabilities in this area with its industry-leading institutional and retail distribution channels.

Bennett Goodman, Co-Founder of GSO Capital Partners and Senior Managing Director of Blackstone, said: “Given the evolution of our firm, moving ahead independently to control our own destiny in this area was the right decision for our business. Bringing together our direct lending investment expertise with our strong institutional and growing retail distribution capabilities represents an extremely powerful combination. Our shareholders will also now receive a much larger share of the value we create through managing these types of portfolios.”

Concurrently, GSO will be concluding its investment sub-advisory relationship with FS Investments’ funds (the “FS Funds”) effective April 9, 2018. During the interim, GSO will continue to provide investment services to the FS Funds and help ensure a smooth transition. In consideration of such services and GSO’s partnership with FS Investments in the FS Funds’ business over the last decade, GSO will receive payments totaling $640 million from FS Investments, substantially all of which are expected to be paid in 2018. Blackstone anticipates utilizing those cash proceeds for the benefit of its shareholders and will provide additional details on those actions early next year.

The $640 million in cash proceeds represent approximately three years of revenues from the FS Funds.  In addition, GSO expects to begin its new direct lending business and generate additional revenue in 2018. GSO anticipates that its internal direct lending business will fully replace, and ultimately exceed, the current revenues and earnings to Blackstone shareholders from the FS Funds.

Goodman added: “We thank FS Investments for their partnership over the years and wish them the best going forward. We are proud of the investment performance and portfolio construction of the funds and are committed to working with FS to make sure there is a smooth transition.”

From the formation of the GSO and FS Investments partnership in 2008, the direct lending FS Funds have generated strong performance, exceeding substantially all of the relevant market benchmarks. For the FS Investment Corporation (FSIC) fund, the oldest fund in the complex, annualized net returns have been 12.4 percent since inception.


About Blackstone
Blackstone is one of the world’s leading investment firms. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our asset management businesses, with over $385 billion in assets under management, include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.

Contact:
Matt Anderson
+1-212-390-2472
matthew.anderson@blackstone.com

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Henrik Blomquist leaves the board of directors of Lauritz.com Group A/S

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Bure

Henrik Blomquist has decided to resign from the board of directors of Lauritz.com Group A/S, effective immediately.

“I and two other board members have different views on how the company should be governed and managed, which caused us to make a decision today to leave the board effective immediately,” says Henrik Blomquist, CEO of Bure Equity AB.
Bure Equity AB (publ)
For more information contact:

Henrik Blomquist, CEO
Tel. +46 (0)8-614 00 20

Categories: People

EDF Invest announces an investment into real estate property Ecowest

EDF Invest

EDF Invest announces an investment into Ecowest, a real estate property located in Levallois-Perret mainly rented to the luxury division of L’Oréal. This brand new 59,000 sqm office building with 1,085 parking lots, delivered in June 2017, benefits from both « BREEAM » and « HQE exceptional » environmental certifications.

About EDF Invest

EDF Invest is the unlisted investment arm of EDF’s Dedicated Assets, the asset portfolio which covers its long-term nuclear decommissioning commitments in France. EDF Invest manages a portfolio of over €5bn equity investments through three asset classes: infrastructure, real estate and private equity.

 

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Categories: News

CapMan has established a MEUR 86 fund focusing on growth investments

CapMan has established a MEUR 86 growth investment fund that focuses on minority investments in unlisted companies with strong growth potential. The investors of the fund are, among others, successful entrepreneurs who want to support Finnish entrepreneurship in a new way. The investor demand for the fund has exceeded our expectations and the fund was clearly oversubscribed.

The successful fund raising demonstrates the investor appetite for active minority investments. CapMan Growth Equity team’s track record is strong, as demonstrated by strong value creation in eight portfolio companies and several successful exits. The newly established fund aims to invest MEUR 2-10 to the target company and develop it for 2-5 years together with the entrepreneur. Minority investing is a good option e.g. in a situation where there are ownership changes in the company or when the growth of the company can be accelerated by additional capital. Minority investing is targeted typically into companies that have passed the start-up phase.

In conjunction with the establishment of the fund CapMan sells its shares in six growth companies to the fund for MEUR 26.6 and makes a corresponding equity commitment into the fund. The sales price is based on the fair values of the investments and does not have a profit impact.

Juha Mikkola and Antti Kummu are two experienced private equity professionals who are responsible for the new fund’s investment activity. Mikkola has 25 years of experience in private equity. During his career he has helped to build dozens of successful companies. Kummu has extensive experience of both operative management and minority investments in growth stage and industrial companies. Kummu has previously acted as CFO of Touhula Varhaiskasvatus and as Director in Finnish Industry Investments.

“Minority investing is a new way to use external know-how to accelerate the growth of a company. We in the CapMan Growth Equity team closely co-operate with the entrepreneur and we also have support from a broad group of fund investors that possess unique know-how of developing and growing companies,” says CapMan Growth Equity team’s Managing Partner Juha Mikkola.

“Minority investing differs from traditional private equity investments as the entrepreneur maintains the majority ownership and decision-making power in the company, but still receives the know-how and financing from the investor that helps to grow the business further,” explains Antti Kummu, partner in CapMan Growth Equity team.

“I am very proud of our newly launched growth investment fund and of our Growth Equity team. We at CapMan create new products and investment strategies, which resonate with the market demand and meet the needs of our clientele in the best possible way,” says Joakim Frimodig, CEO of CapMan.

For further information, please contact:
Juha Mikkola, Managing Partner, Growth Equity, CapMan Plc, tel. +358 50 590 0522
Antti Kummu, Partner, Growth Equity, CapMan Plc, tel. +358 50 432 4486
Joakim Frimodig, CEO, CapMan Plc, tel. +358 50 529 0665
 

CapMan
www.capman.com
twitter.com/CapManPE

CapMan is a leading Nordic investment and specialised asset management company. As one of the Nordic private equity pioneers we have actively developed hundreds of companies and real estate and thereby created substantial value in these businesses and assets over the last 28 years. CapMan has today 110 private equity professionals and manages €2.7 billion in assets. We mainly manage the assets of our customers, the investors, but also make direct investments from our own balance sheet in areas without an active fund. Our objective is to provide attractive returns and innovative solutions to investors and value adding services to professional investment partnerships, growth-oriented companies and tenants. Our current investment strategies cover Buyout, Growth Equity, Real Estate, Russia, Credit and Infrastructure. We also have a growing service business that currently includes fundraising advisory, procurement activities and fund management.   

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Dame Amelia Fawcett proposed to be elected Chairman of Kinnevik

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Kinnevik

Kinnevik AB (publ) (“Kinnevik”) today announced that its Nomination Committee will propose the election of Dame Amelia Fawcett as new Chairman of the Board at the Annual General Meeting 2018.

Dame Amelia Fawcett has been a Director of the Board of Kinnevik since 2011 and has served as Deputy Chairman since 2013. She succeeds Tom Boardman who has decided not to stand for re-election at the Annual General Meeting 2018.

Cristina Stenbeck, Chairman of the Nomination Committee, commented:

“I am delighted that Amelia has accepted to be nominated for the role as Chairman of Kinnevik. Since her election in 2011, Amelia has been an active member of the Board. She has contributed her experience from leading global companies across multiple industries, including financial services, media and telecommunications. She also has led for many years the work of Kinnevik and its investee companies on governance, risk, compliance and remuneration, as a Board member and Chairman of relevant Board committees. I look forward to working even closer with Amelia in her role as Chairman.”

Cristina Stenbeck continued:

“On behalf of the Board and the Nomination Committee, I would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Tom Boardman for his significant contribution during his seven years on the Board of Kinnevik and his leadership during his last two years as Chairman.”

Dame Amelia Fawcett has been a Director of the Board of Kinnevik since 2011 and was appointed Deputy Chairman in 2013. She is also Chairman of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments, a Board Director of State Street Corporation in Boston, USA and Chairman of its Risk Committee, and a member of the Board of the UK Treasury. Dame Amelia is Deputy Chairman and a Governor of the London Business School, Chairman of The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation and a Trustee of Project Hope UK. She held managerial positions within Morgan Stanley during 1987-2006 and was Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of its European operations during 2002-2006. She was a Board Director of the Guardian Media Group during 2007-2013, and Chairman during 2009-2013. In 2010 she was awarded a DBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire) by HM Queen Elizabeth II for services to the financial services industry. She has a Law Degree from University of Virginia, USA, and a BA in History from the Wellesley College in Massachusetts, USA.

The Nomination Committee’s complete proposals will be announced in the notice convening Kinnevik’s Annual General Meeting to be held on 21 May 2018. The Nomination Committee comprises Cristina Stenbeck appointed by Verdere S.à r.l., Wilhelm Klingspor appointed by the Klingspor family, Edvard von Horn appointed by the von Horn Family, James Anderson appointed by Baillie Gifford, and Ramsay Brufer appointed by Alecta.  The five shareholder representatives on the Nomination Committee jointly represent approximately 60 percent of the votes in Kinnevik.

This information is information that Kinnevik AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 12.00 CET on 8 December 2017.

For further information, visit www.kinnevik.com or contact:

Torun Litzén, Director Investor Relations
Phone +46 (0)70 762 00 50
Email press@kinnevik.com

Kinnevik is an industry focused investment company with an entrepreneurial spirit. Our purpose is to build the digital consumer businesses that provide more and better choice. We do this by working in partnership with talented founders and management teams to create, invest in and lead fast growing businesses in developed and emerging markets. We believe in delivering both shareholder and social value by building well governed companies that contribute positively to society. Kinnevik was founded in 1936 by the Stenbeck, Klingspor and von Horn families. Kinnevik’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm’s list for large cap companies under the ticker codes KINV A and KINV B.

Categories: People

Arachas makes second acquisition since being backed by Sovereign

Sovereign Capital

Sovereign Capital, the UK private equity Buy & Build specialist, is pleased to announce that portfolio company Arachas Corporate Brokers (“Arachas”), a leading insurance brokerage operating in Ireland, has acquired Kidd Insurances (“Kidd”). This is the second acquisition Arachas has made since Sovereign backed the management buy-out of the business earlier this year and makes the group the third largest commercial insurance broker in Ireland. Sovereign will continue to work with the management team to further grow and develop the business through a strategy of Buy & Build. The transaction is subject to approval from the Central Bank of Ireland.

Kidd Insurances is one of Ireland’s longest established Insurance brokers serving both the retail customer and broker community with its specialist affinity insurance product range. The transaction closely follows Arachas’ acquisition of Capital Cover Group. The combined group will employ approaching 230 staff across its offices in Dublin, Cork and Waterford.

Neil Cox, Partner, Sovereign Capital commented: “We are delighted to have supported Arachas’ acquisition of Kidd which is a high quality, long established operator.  The transaction both develops the Group’s product offering and further consolidates its position in the Irish market. We look forward to working with the management team to further expand the Group.”

Donal Cronin, CEO of Arachas said: “We are delighted to have acquired Kidd. They mirror our philosophy of providing the very best in customer service and focus on niche Insurance solutions with their unique product range. In partnership with Sovereign, we will continue to develop the business through strong organic growth and further acquisitions of like-minded brokers.”

Other portfolio investments held by Sovereign in the financial services and insurance sectors include Kindertons, the nationwide provider of outsourced accident management services for motor insurers and insurance brokers. Since being backed by Sovereign, Kindertons’ revenue has tripled to over £150m.

For further information please contact: Julie Sieger, Sovereign Capital, on +44 (0)20 7340 8800 or email:juliesieger@sovereigncapital.co.uk

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Partners Group acquires 4 million square feet of US office space valued at over USD 1 billion

Partners Group

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has acquired a total of 4 million square feet of office space in the US on behalf of its clients since the start of the year. This US office portfolio has a total acquisition value of over USD 1 billion.

In May, Partners Group acquired 100 Peachtree, a 33-story and over 622,000 square foot office tower located in Atlanta, Georgia. In June, the firm acquired Burns and McDonnell Plaza, a Class A office building in Houston, Texas, while in October, it acquired Island Center and Waterford Plaza, two Class A office buildings in Tampa, Florida. Most recently, Partners Group completed its acquisition of a 26-story, 403,000 square foot office tower located in Buckhead, Atlanta’s leading office submarket.

In addition, Partners Group recently completed the acquisition of a 2.2 million square foot portfolio of Class A office properties located in select suburban markets in Dallas, Chicago, Washington D.C., Austin and Boston via a tail-end liquidity transaction.

Partners Group will draw on its long track record of experience in real estate asset management to execute value-added business plans for the acquired properties in conjunction with local operating partners. Value creation initiatives will vary but will typically include increasing the buildings’ occupancy to market levels, renewing leases and upgrading amenities and common areas to meet the changing demand of current and future tenants.

Ron Lamontagne, Managing Director and Head of Private Real Estate Americas at Partners Group, comments: “In the US, our sourcing efforts in the office sector have been concentrated on finding properties in secondary CBD markets that are benefitting from corporate relocations, job growth and associated infrastructure improvements. These investments are in line with our over-arching strategy of acquiring high-quality assets in strong locations that could benefit from a repositioning, or other active property management and value creation initiatives to drive net operating income.”

Marc Weiss, Partner and Head of Private Real Estate Secondaries and Primaries at Partners Group, adds: “This substantial US office portfolio has been built by Partners Group’s ‘one team’ approach to real estate investing, which encourages dialogue between our direct, primary and secondary team members. Our approach emphasizes the importance of proprietary sourcing through our network of local asset owners, GPs and operators, in order to avoid the highly competitive auction processes that tend to characterize transactions in the core space and traditional secondaries market.”

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