Investment giant Candriam Group has upped its stake in European real estate firm Tristan Capital Partners.
A statement from the latter said the former had agreed to buy an additional 31% stake in the firm and bring its total investment to 80% by the middle of the year. It said that the remaining 20% of Tristan will continue to be held by its senior team, ensuring the long-term alignment of interests and continued incentivisation of its growing team.
Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, CEO of Candriam and chair of New York Life Investment Management International, said: “Tristan has built a successful business since launching in 2009 while establishing a strong market presence and an impressive track record across European markets. Our shared core values and culture have served to strengthen our partnership over the past five years, over which time Tristan has grown its assets under management from €7bn to over €15bn. We are excited to support Tristan in its next phase of growth.”
There will be no changes to Tristan’s management leadership. Ric Lewis will continue as executive chair, chair of the investment committee, and chair of the holding company. Ian Laming will continue as CEO; and Cameron Spry and Ric Lewis will continue as co-CIOs.
Lewis said: “Tristan, Candriam, and New York Life Investments first entered into a strategic partnership five years ago. During this time, we have built a powerful alliance based on mutual respect and the understanding of the importance of preserving Tristan’s entrepreneurial culture, investment philosophy, and discipline. This next step is a testament to the success of our partnership to date.”
He added: “Our business is well positioned for growth ahead of the next European real estate cycle; we completed our largest ever capital raise in our latest opportunistic fund, we’ve successfully diversified the business to include debt strategies, and we have dry powder across all our fund series. This investment will help to facilitate our growth as we look to expand the opportunity set for our clients, people, and partners over the coming years.”
It seems this week is one in which Candriam gain something, given last week it lost fund manager duo of Fabienne Cretin-Fumeron and Stéphane Dieudonné to asset manager Carmignac.
With Tristan Capital Partners, this news comes a few weeks after it announced it had raised €2bn for its latest fund.
Back in January, it said that its European Property Investors Special Opportunities 6 (EPISO 6) fund was fully subscribed, mostly by pensions, family offices, insurance, and sovereign funds. EPISO 5, in 2019, closed with funding of €1.7bn.
Despite these successes, the firm has been in dispute with Thames Bank Property over previous funds, which led to the serving of papers in November last year over unpaid debts.
