AXA Real Estate announced the launch of €350M Italian regulated fund and acquisition of office building U10 in Milan for €44.5M

Initial investment for the new fund completed with the €44.5 million acquisition of a Grade A office building in Milan

PARIS, 03-6-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — AXA Real Estate Investment Managers SGR, an affiliate of AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (“AXA Real Estate”), the leading real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe¹, announces the launch of a new €350 million Italian regulated fund (the “Fund”) and the €44.5 million acquisition of U10, a prime office building in Milan, Italy from Brioschi Sviluppo Immobiliare, one of Italy’s leading property developers. U10 is the first acquisition AXA Real Estate has made on the Fund’s behalf.

The Fund, which has a total investment capacity of €350 million is a dedicated investment vehicle established by AXA Real Estate on behalf of AXA Assicurazioni and AXA MPS. The Fund’s primary investment focus is on the acquisition of high quality, well-let commercial real estate in Europe.

The 13,317 sqm, newly built office building comprises 10 floors and is currently fully let to a number of international institutions. Located in Southern Milan, the asset is strategically situated in the Milanofiori Nord business complex which is one of the largest and most established office developments in the city.

The complex is a business hub eight kilometres outside of the city centre, and also includes shops, a multiscreen cinema, hotel and spa.

The building has modern and high technical standards. An application has been made for Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (‘LEED’) certification, which is a globally recognised green building certification that acknowledges best-in-class energy and environmental strategies and practices.

Nathalie Charles, Head of Asset Management & Transactions, Southern Europe at AXA Real Estate, said: “Having been a first mover back into the Italian real estate market through our acquisition of the Bodio centre in June last year, this acquisition and the launch of this new Italian focused fund are further evidence of our belief in the positive long term prospects of the Italian real estate market and a noticeable shift in investor sentiment towards the country.”

Alessio Lucentini, Head of Italian Asset Management and Transactions at AXA Real Estate, added: “This is a high quality and well located asset with a strong tenant line-up and its acquisition is demonstrative of the importance of having a dedicated in-house local team to successfully access off-market deals to create value for clients.”

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AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (AXA Real Estate), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AXA Investment Managers, is the largest real estate portfolio and asset manager in Europe¹, with €48 billion of assets under management as at the end of March 2014. It has over 160 third party institutional clients spread across the world, in addition to managing funds for 10 AXA insurance companies.

With over 500 real estate professionals operating in 23 countries, AXA Real Estate’s competitive advantage stems from its global fund management expertise combined with extensive on-the-ground deal sourcing, asset management and development execution capabilities.

AXA Real Estate structures and actively manages or advises investment products, seeking wide ranging opportunities along the risk spectrum to deliver targeted returns commensurate with clients’ risk profiles, through a variety of investment strategies. These range from core to value-add and opportunistic, country-specific to geographically-diversified, sector-specific to multi-sector, with the capacity to invest at all levels of the capital structure.

Global growth remains a key priority and AXA Real Estate has expanded its presence in both the U.S. and Asia. Assets under management have grown from €17 billion 14 years ago to €48 billion today.

Visit our website: www.axa-realestate.com

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) is a multi-expert asset management company within the AXA Group, a global leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA IM is one of the largest European-based asset managers with approximately €547 billion in assets under management as of the end of December 2013.

AXA IM employs over 2,100 people around the world and operates out of 23 countries.

Visit our internet website: www.axa-im.com

¹Source: INREV Survey 2012 published in June 2013

Press Contacts
AXA Real Estate
Charline Coué, Jocelyne Tamssom
Tel: +33 1 44 45 97 95
charline.coue@axa-im.com,
jocelyne.tamssom@axa-im.com

FTI Consulting Inc.
Richard Sunderland, Stephanie Highett, Nina Legge,
Clare Glynn
Tel: +44 20 3727 1000
AXARealEstate@fticonsulting.com