Aware Super and Delancey JV targets UK with £1bn platform

Damien Webb.

Australian fund Aware Super is to partner Delancey Real Estate to establish a property platform which will invest up to £1 billion in UK property, initially central London offices.

The partners said that the slowdown in new office developments, catalysed by the COVID 19 pandemic, has created a scarcity of high-quality office space and that there is strong demand from major corporate occupiers to lease the most sustainable and best quality offices.

The platform can acquire stabilised assets, fund development projects and assist with recapitalisations while single asset, portfolio and corporate acquisitions will all be considered.

The platform will also explore opportunities in high-quality, undervalued UK retail, logistics, and mixed-use properties which the partners said recognises the potential for attractive cyclical returns in these sectors.

Jamie Ritblat, founder and chairman of Delancey, said: “Amid asset repricing driven by interest rate and regulatory changes, we see an attractive entry point in a weakened office market. Focus will start with prime Central London offices to create a liquid, sustainable, and resilient portfolio, with investments in retail and logistics sectors in prime UK locations under consideration.”

Aware Super, which will continue to source other investments directly, already owns a 22% stake in Get Living, owner and operator of large-scale build-to-rent neighbourhoods, which was founded by Delancey.

The partnership with Delancey will take the fund’s investment in the United Kingdom to more than £2 billion following a commitment to invest £5.25 billion in the UK and continental Europe over five years having opened a London office in November 2023.

“Since opening our first international office in London in November 2023 we have been encouraged by the growing strength of the UK economy,” Aware Super’s head of international and deputy chief investment officer Damien Webb said.

“By originating exciting deals across real estate, infrastructure and private equity we are building a balanced portfolio of resilient assets which we anticipate delivering strong returns for our 1.1 million members back in Australia.”

Aware Super’s investment drive overall is targeted at real estate, infrastructure and private equity opportunities. The fund recently announced investments into UK’s leading post-transition green energy major Octopus Energy and London-headquartered bandwidth and data centre connectivity firm euNetworks.

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