The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is signing a strategic partnership with La Française, a third-party asset manager, to launch a new real estate investment and development vehicle called Société Foncière et Immobilière du Grand Paris.
The CPPIB will hold 80 per cent of the venture while the remaining 20 per cent will be held by the Caisse Fédérale du Crédit Mutuel Nord Europe, La Française’s shareholder. The vehicle will invest in major real estate projects in the greater Paris area, putting a total of 387.5 million euro between the two parties towards the Grand Paris regeneration initiative.
Read: CPPIB ekes out 1.1% return during challenging fiscal Q3
“This new partnership in France with a leading real estate manager and investor like La Française and its parent company CMNE allows us to invest in a strategically important development in Paris,” said Andrea Orlandi, managing director and head of Europe in real estate investments at the CPPIB, in a press release. “Through this partnership, we will target regeneration and infrastructure-led investments and we expect the Grand Paris Express to significantly transform the greater Paris market over the next decade and beyond. We look forward to growing the venture anchored by the significant development opportunities in Paris and its Grand Paris Express project.”
Beyond the initial development projects of the Saint-Denis-Pleyel and Villejuif-Gustave Roussy, the two parties expect to grow their partnership through additional development projects, the release noted. The Saint-Denis-Pleyel is a mixed-use development, housing both office and residential spaces, while the Villejuif-Gustave Roussy is solely an office-space project.
Read: Half of institutional investors plan to boost real estate holdings: survey