The investment bank’s private equity real estate platform is expected to raise a sequel fund to its 2008, $2.6bn GS Real Estate Mezzanine Partners that would target both US and European opportunities.
The New York-based firm, led by former WP Carey executive Edward LaPuma, will be rolling out two real estate vehicles focusing on the sale-leaseback market in North America and Europe and seeking to raise a total of more than $400 million from institutional investors.
Limited partners’ heavy appetite for mezzanine strategies helped Blackstone’s GSO team raise billions to take advantage of a historic opportunity for non-bank lenders in the uncertain markets, especially in Europe.
The US Senate passed legislation Thursday that would eliminate restrictions prohibiting private equity firms from publicly marketing their funds.
The firm has sold a business line of UK engineering company Tomkins, the largest private equity buyout of 2010 at $4.7bn, to Madison Dearborn Partners for $505m.
The European private equity real estate firm has begun fundraising for its latest opportunistic fund aiming to match Orion European Real Estate Fund III in terms of total equity commitments.
Silver Lake has added venture debt specialist and Lighthouse Capital Partners co-founder Rick Stubblefield to the oversight committee of its recently launched $75m fund.
Metric Capital Partners has held a first close for its maiden debt fund after eight months on the road, about a third of the way to its €300m target.
‘Specialist fund of funds’ may sound like a contradiction in terms – but lurking in the shadows of the the global multi-manager platforms are a lesser known group of players executing niche strategies.
NPS expects opportunity funds to play their part as it seeks to grow its property portfolio by $1.5 billion to $2 billion each year. PERE Magazine March 2012 issue.