International investment manager InfraRed Capital Partners is selling its European real estate investment management business to specialist UK real estate investor ARA Dunedin.
InfraRed Real Estate is a specialist discretionary fund manager with circa $1.4bn of equity under management.
ARA Asset Management, which owns ARA Dunedin, describes itself as one of the largest real asset managers in Asia Pacific, and holds roughly $95bn in gross assets under management across the group and its associates.
Financial details were not disclosed but the deal is expected to complete in October 2021.
Unchanged team
The acquisition is intended to support ARA Dunedin as it looks to expand its footprint in the European real estate market.
Following completion, InfraRed Real Estate will be led by the same investment management team with a strong track record of investment performance in the real estate sector over the past 25 years and across eight funds.
In addition, the management team of InfraRed’s European real estate business will invest in a minority stake in ARA Dunedin.
Investment opportunity
Werner von Guionneau, chief executive of InfraRed, said: “Following a strategic review, we concluded that our European real estate business would be best served for the future under a new ownership. This transaction will create a win-win situation for all stakeholders by ensuring continuity and stability for the team, leveraging ARA’s competencies and footprint.
“InfraRed will focus on its infrastructure proposition to provide long-term predictable income streams for our investors across assets in core and energy infrastructure.”
Mark Ebbinghaus, chief executive of ARA Europe and chairman of ARA Dunedin, said: “ARA is one of the largest real assets managers in Asia Pacific with a broad, high quality investor base across the region.
“The addition of InfraRed’s real estate team gives us the opportunity to offer our growing client base another option to invest into European real estate through a leading and well-established European value add fund manager via ARA Dunedin, as part of the ARA Group. “ARA Dunedin has over 20 years of experience as a specialist UK real estate investor and has recently completed several high-profile transactions in the sector.”
