Stoneweg to buy Cromwell’s European platform for €280m
Geneva-based investment group Stoneweg has agreed to buy Cromwell Property Group’s European fund management platform and associated co-investments for €280m (£238m).
The platform totals €3.9bn of real estate assets under management. It includes Cromwell’s 27.8% stake in the Singapore-listed €2.2bn Cromwell European REIT and its 50% stake in its Urban Italy Logistics Fund.
The investor will also buy Brisbane-based Cromwell’s 100% holdings in Cromwell Europe and in the Singapore-based manager of CEREIT.
Geneva-based investment group Stoneweg has agreed to buy Cromwell Property Group’s European fund management platform and associated co-investments for €280m (£238m).
The platform totals €3.9bn of real estate assets under management. It includes Cromwell’s 27.8% stake in the Singapore-listed €2.2bn Cromwell European REIT and its 50% stake in its Urban Italy Logistics Fund.
The investor will also buy Brisbane-based Cromwell’s 100% holdings in Cromwell Europe and in the Singapore-based manager of CEREIT.
The deal will double Stoneweg’s AUM to around €8bn. In the UK, the deal adds €369m AUM, seven assets totalling more than 3.1m sq ft and a team of 56 people to its business.
Across a mix of core, core-plus and value-add funds and mandates, Cromwell’s European platform comprises more than 160 assets and 1,600 tenants, with 14 local offices in 12 European countries.
Operating as Stoneweg, the new entity will include equity and debt investments in the European residential, light industrial, logistics, hospitality, office, and cultural and leisure sectors, employing more than 300 professionals in 25 offices.
The combined platform will continue to operate as Stoneweg and will be led by Stoneweg co-founders Jaume Sabater (chief executive) and Joaquin Castellvi (head of acquisitions) and Icona founder Max-Hervé George. Icona is a minority shareholder in Stoneweg.
Sabater said: “This milestone transaction immediately creates a pan-European real estate asset management platform of scale and continues our strong track record of successful transactions to deliver value for our investors. It successfully brings together two highly complementary businesses with a shared conviction in the compelling structural, demographic and technological drivers underpinning select real estate asset classes in Europe.”
He added: “The addition of the manager of the Singapore-listed Cromwell European REIT extends our reach into Asia and those investors seeking exposure to high-quality and sustainable real estate assets across Europe.”
Jonathan Callaghan, chief executive of Cromwell Property Group, said: “I strongly believe that Stoneweg is an excellent match with very little overlap in terms of geographical and asset class focus, and I take this opportunity to thank all staff who have participated in this exercise, especially those joining Stoneweg as part of this transaction.”
Swiss bank and Stoneweg shareholder CBH Compagnie Bancaire Helvétique SA acted as financial adviser to the buyer on the transaction.
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