Henley partners with Frank & Kevin Oppenheim to invest in German and Benelux commercial real estate.
Private Equity Real Estate firm, Henley is continuing its rapid pace of growth by entering the continental real estate market through the launch of Henley360, a joint venture with experienced property investors Frank and Kevin Oppenheim. The new business will invest in the German and Benelux markets, focusing on high-yielding light-industrial, multi-let properties, sale and leaseback deals, as well as other deep value opportunities, following the success of Henley’s UK deep value strategy.
Henley360 will look at target deal sizes of €5 million and above, capitalizing on the relatively untapped potential for deep value deals in its European target markets. The new joint venture has already identified more than €50 million of potential deals in both Germany and the Netherlands, with an aim to invest at least £200 million over the next three years. Henley will handle investors’ relations for the business and provide the capital from its extensive pool of investors while The Oppenheims will source the deals and provide the strategic asset management services. The Oppenheims have an impressive track record in the multi-let light industrial sector, having developed 12 business parks in the UK, and 38 parks in Germany (through Sirius Real Estate) over the last 15 years.
Ian Rickwood, Chief Executive Officer of Henley, said: “Henley is going from strength to strength and following the success of our UK-focused strategies and the clear appetite from our investors for similar product, we have identified now as the right time to enter the Continental European market for the first time. In addition to Henley360 we are also looking for exciting opportunities in other European markets including Spain and France.”
“It was key for us to find the right partner for this venture, which we found in Frank and Kevin given their successful track record and longstanding market experience. We are always looking for likeminded companies and individuals to expand the product offer to our investor base and are currently exploring a number of potential business ventures under the Henley brand.”
Established in 2006 Henley is a leading UK private equity real estate investor focusing on development, investment and asset management in the commercial, residential, healthcare and debt property market. Since inception Henley has doubled in size every year and is expected to do the same again in 2014. The company currently has £500 million assets under management (as of Jan 2014).
Henley’s platform is focused on five core strategies, prime London residential development, commercial investment via both ‘deep value – high yield’ and capital preservation, a healthcare fund and HPF (Henley Property Finance) a debt focused business. In addition, Henley is acting for a number of international family offices through its HFO (Henley Family Office) business, launched in February 2014.
Henley’ recent deals include two super-prime ‘office to residential’ conversions in St James, £22 million Sale and Leaseback deals with Peugeot and Tallent, a development lending deal in Wentworth and the purchase of a prime office to residential conversion at circa £42m.
Frank and Kevin Oppenheim have been actively involved in the real estate sector since the mid-90s. They built a portfolio of business centres between 1999 and 2003 in the UK and successfully disposed of the business in 2005. They then entered the German market in 2006 and founded Sirius Real Estate in 2007, creating a portfolio of 38 business parks, which provides more than 11 million sq ft of mixed-use real estate to circa 2,000 tenants in Germany.
Kevin Oppenheim said: “It is an exciting time to join forces with Henley. We are confident that the merger of our expertise in the multi-tenant business park sector combined with Henley’s track record in raising capital for real estate will enable us to build a sizeable European portfolio over the coming years.”18
The Oppenheims were advised by Paul Ross-Gower of Funding Procurement Consultancy.