• £111m already committed to 4 investments
• Commitments from 14 investors based across the world

Clearbell Capital, the private equity real estate fund manager, announces the final close on its third value add fund, Clearbell Property Partners III (CPP III). Clearbell has raised £310m.

Clearbell has secured a strong investor base, with investors from the USA, Australia, Europe, Middle East and South America. 83% of commitments were received from Clearbell’s existing investors, as well as 17% from new investors, including pension funds, not for profit organisations and high net worth’s.

The fund is already invested in four UK opportunities across office, logistics and leisure:

• Cara: c.£100m aggregated portfolio comprising 20 industrial and logistics assets via four separate transactions
• Taurus: logistics portfolio acquired via two separate transactions with plans to aggregate a portfolio of mid to large sized logistics units
• Edmund House: 78k sq ft office accommodation and 10k sq ft retail and restaurant space in Birmingham’s central business district
• The Sloane Club: 75,000 sq ft private members’ club in the heart of Chelsea, London

Manish Chande, Senior Partner at Clearbell Capital, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce the completion of the fundraise. Though the Brexit vote has undeniably given overseas investors temporary cold feet towards UK value add real estate strategies, we’ve been able to draw on our strong track record and in-depth knowledge of the UK market to attract investment in this fund. The headwinds have been very strong, but we have navigated these to achieve a successful raise.

“Our team knows the UK market inside out and this shows in the deployment to date and in opportunities we continue to identify. Brexit has created investment opportunities in the UK for those willing to roll their sleeves up and focus on properties which require targeted and innovative solutions.

“Our first fund is substantially realised, the second is more than half realised, both are on target to deliver over double digit gross returns to investors and for CPP III we will continue to target investments with above average returns.”

CPP III will follow a similar investment strategy to its predecessors, focusing on the following five investment themes:

• Cash-on-cash: exploiting the wide gap between property yields and interest rates, especially in the logistics and industrial space
• Evolution of retail: capitalising on rise of delivery to acquire retail logistics including creating aggregated portfolios
• Recovery assets: sourcing good quality assets requiring capital investment
• Reverse ripple: pursuing London office markets where value should emerge post EU Referendum
• Beds: opportunities in residential and leisure accommodation due to lack of supply

Clearbell manages the three UK value add real estate funds in addition to its advisory mandates. This new fund brings Clearbell’s total assets managed to £2.2 billion including its advisory mandates.