M7 raises its second Continental European Real Estate Fund and acquires over 40 Dutch asset

London, 9 November 2015 – M7 Real Estate, the pan-European investor and asset manager specialised in multi-let properties, has raised over €40 million of equity and loan note issuance for its second Continental European real estate fund. Investors included a US-based multi-strategy private equity firm together with a number of existing M7 investors.

The fund, M7 European Real Estate Investment Partners II (M7 EREIP II) has purchased a portfolio of 42 assets in three individual acquisitions, including the Spring Portfolio that originated from a non-performing loan. The purchases comprise a total of 135,688 sq m of space and were made from three different vendors. The combined purchase price was over €82 million representing an initial yield of approximately 11%, with a vacancy rate of c.25%. The assets are located throughout the Netherlands and comprise a mixture of multi-let office, local retail and light industrial property. M7 will act as investment adviser and asset manager to the fund.

Richard Croft, M7 Real Estate’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The portfolio that M7 have assembled for the fund provides a combination of exciting value add opportunities together with some longer let assets. This enabled us to source attractive senior financing and offer our investors either an attractive bond return or more value add equity return”.

The fund was structured by Goodwin Procter and Van Doorne acted as real estate legal advisers to M7 EREIP II. Ringstate advised M7 on the acquisition of the Spring portfolio. Deutsche Bank provided the senior debt facility.

M7 has also had a second close for its first European fund (M7 EREIP I) taking equity commitments to approx. €23 million and has notarised a second portfolio taking the fund’s gross asset value to approximately €55 million. A third and final close is expected in mid-November, to acquire the vehicle’s third portfolio.