DOHA: Investcorp, a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products, yesterday announced that its US-based real estate arm, through separate transactions, has acquired a portfolio of eight residential properties in the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas for approximately $400m.
These transactions take the firm’s total real estate acquisitions for the last 12 months past $1bn, marking the continuation of a highly active period of investment for Investcorp’s real estate group.
All eight properties are well-occupied rental properties situated in major and growing US markets, demonstrating solid rent growth potential. Investcorp intends to add value to the portfolio through renovation and capital expenditure, a strategy which the Firm has successfully executed in previous multifamily investments.
Ramzi Abdel Jaber, Managing Director at Investcorp for Qatar, said, “The solid rent growth potential of these eight properties makes them an excellent fit for our portfolio. With an occupancy rate of about 96 percent, we believe in the long term value and the high return rate these investments can generate.” Investcorp acquired each of the properties through joint ventures with several local and regional operating partners. The eight properties acquired total more than 3.2m square feet with approximately 3,400 multifamily units. The current average occupancy rate is approximately 96 percent.
The acquired properties are: Solis at Flamingo, Las Vegas, Nevada: This garden style, for-rent multifamily property is located in close proximity to three major employment drivers that have spurred population growth in the area: the Las Vegas Strip, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and McCarran International Airport. Additionally, there are various major construction projects underway in the surrounding area, totaling approximately $8bn.
In addition to strong momentum behind acquisitions, significant realisations have also been made in the last twelve months, including the sale of multifamily properties in Houston and Dallas; an industrial property in Connecticut; office buildings in Northern California; and hotels in Pittsburgh and Boston.
According to data from Real Capital Analytics (RCA) Investcorp is among the top 10 foreign investors in US real estate over the past 10 years. Since 1996, Investcorp has completed more than 300 property investments totaling more than $11bn in value. As of June 30, 2015 Investcorp’s real estate group had approximately $1.4bn in assets under management, primarily in commercial, office and residential properties in 30 of the largest markets in the US.
The Investcorp Group has offices in Bahrain, New York, London, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.