February 23, 2022
Fiera Real Estate UK (“FRE UK” or the “Firm”) is pleased to announce that the Fiera Real Estate Opportunity Fund (“FREOF V”) has reached its final close with £180m. FREOF V is the fifth and largest Fund in the Firm’s value add series which has raised over £780m to date.
The Firm launched FREOF V in November 2019 to take advantage of the unprecedented transitional buying opportunities created by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. The demographic shifts, environmental needs, technological progression and changing customer expectations have been key trends disrupting existing real estate. This has led to the emergence of new opportunities to create real estate that is fit for purpose. FREOF V exploited these opportunities, with particular focus on grade A industrial and logistics, build to rent and rezoning of land for residential use. The fund is targeted to deliver a 15% total net IRR to investors with little to no leverage.
The £180m came from both UK and overseas investors, which, coupled with its successful close during the pandemic, reflects the resilience of UK real estate as an asset class and increased global investor confidence in the UK market.
FRE UK has deployed the capital through its unique pan-UK operating network of eight property companies which provides the Firm with access to local knowledge in all key regions and extensive access to deal flow. The Fund currently consists of 15 assets and has a pipeline of over 1000 build-to-rent (“BTR”) units and c.750,000 square feet of Grade A logistics warehouses located on arterial routes in major cities across the UK.
FREOF V is committed to ESG, and in 2021 achieved GRESB Green Star status, improving its score by 14% from 2020. All assets in FREOF V meet tough environmental and social requirements set by the Firm, which align with its ambition to drive positive change and to contribute to a low carbon economy. All assets in the fund are target EPC A rating, the seven logistics assets target BREEAM “Excellent”, and the six residential investments target Home Quality Mark 4.
FRE UK has c. £30m of dry powder left to deploy in this fund. To build on its success, FRE UK will launch two further strategies in Q2 2022.
Chris Button, fund manager at FRE UK commented: “We are delighted to have secured the final close at £180m for the fifth Fund in our value-add series. It has been a very successful investment window and the Fund has a healthy deal pipeline to ensure timely deployment of the remaining equity towards new opportunities during the first half of 2022”.