Gulf’s biggest buyer of US properties to double investments

Bloomberg

Investcorp Bank BSC, the Gulf’s largest private investor in U.S. real estate over the past 10 years, plans to step up property investments in the world’s largest economy as it seeks to double assets under management to $25 billion over the next five to seven years.
The company expects to spend $1.5 billion on U.S. real estate in the fiscal year through June, compared with about $860 million in the year-earlier period, JonathanDracos, head of real estate at Investcorp, said by phone from New York. The company, which has backed companies including Tiffany & Co. and Gucci Ltd under founder NemirKirdar, is looking to grow its real-estate business in the U.S. by acquiring office and residential buildings, he said.
Investcorp is also planning to invest about $200 million in European property in the 12 months starting from July, Dracos said. The firm is returning to European real estate after abandoning the market in 1994 because of low returns. This time, returns from European deals are not expected to be “that much” lower than those in the U.S., he said.
The Bahrain-based money manager is charting a new growth plan under executive chairman, Mohammed Al Ardhi, after a generational shift in the management of the company last year. Mohammed Al-Shroogi and Rishi Kapoor were appointed co-chief executive officers in April last year after Abdul-RahmanSalim Al-Ateeqi, who had been chairman since Investcorp was founded in 1982, retired and Kirdar became chairman.

Bigger Deals
Under the new management team, Investcorp aims to double assets under management, expand investment products, rebuild its hedge-fund business, and may also seek to do larger transactions in the U.S. through its private equity arm.
Last month, Investcorp hired Neil Hasson from Macquarie Group Ltd. to spearhead its European real-estate investments. The company will be looking to buy residential and commercial properties in the U.K., France and Germany, Dracos said. Real-estate investments account for 15 percent to 20 percent of the firm’s revenue, and has around $1.5 billion of assets under management.
“We’ve been talking about Europe internally for a long time, been asked about it by clients for a number of years, and we see a good investment opportunity there for us as a logical extension of our private equity and hedge fund platforms, which are already in Europe,” Dracos said.