Key Takeaways
- • Elliott Management is backing Oval Real Estate to buy the entire £940M Janus Henderson UK Property PAIF portfolio, one of the largest British real estate deals since the onset of the pandemic, according to Bisnow citing React News.
- • The fund is dissolving and returning cash to thousands of small private investors after redemption pressure following Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.
- • Oval and Elliott beat competing bids from Ares Management, Blackstone and Starwood Capital for the portfolio, which Nuveen had marketed through CBRE.
- • The portfolio is weighted toward industrial (35%) and offices (18%), with 17% held in cash, and its largest asset is Capital Business Park in Cambridge.
Summary
An activist hedge fund, Elliott Management, has teamed up with property asset manager Oval Real Estate to acquire a £940M UK real estate portfolio, according to Bisnow, which cited React News. The transaction is one of the largest British real estate deals since the onset of the pandemic. The portfolio belongs to the Janus Henderson UK Property PAIF, an open-ended fund for small private investors managed by Nuveen. The fund is dissolving itself and returning cash to its investors.
The fund faced sustained redemption requests as investors sought to withdraw capital following macro-economic shocks, including Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. Rather than selling assets gradually, Nuveen appointed CBRE earlier in the year to find a buyer for the entire portfolio, allowing cash to be returned to investors in one transaction.
Oval and Elliott prevailed over competing bidders Ares Management, Blackstone and Starwood, according to React News. Elliott is best known as an activist investor that acquires stakes in listed companies and pushes management to change strategy to lift share prices. It is currently pressing the board of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey to appoint a new chief executive from outside the company. Oval is known for promoting a major development scheme in the Digbeth area of Birmingham.
According to a fund fact sheet cited in the report, 35% of the portfolio's assets are in industrial property, 18% in offices and 17% in cash, with the remainder spread across other asset classes. The largest asset is Capital Business Park in Cambridge, which could be repositioned as a life sciences asset. The portfolio also includes a former John Lewis department store in Croydon.
The fund faced sustained redemption requests as investors sought to withdraw capital following macro-economic shocks, including Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. Rather than selling assets gradually, Nuveen appointed CBRE earlier in the year to find a buyer for the entire portfolio, allowing cash to be returned to investors in one transaction.
Oval and Elliott prevailed over competing bidders Ares Management, Blackstone and Starwood, according to React News. Elliott is best known as an activist investor that acquires stakes in listed companies and pushes management to change strategy to lift share prices. It is currently pressing the board of housebuilder Taylor Wimpey to appoint a new chief executive from outside the company. Oval is known for promoting a major development scheme in the Digbeth area of Birmingham.
According to a fund fact sheet cited in the report, 35% of the portfolio's assets are in industrial property, 18% in offices and 17% in cash, with the remainder spread across other asset classes. The largest asset is Capital Business Park in Cambridge, which could be repositioned as a life sciences asset. The portfolio also includes a former John Lewis department store in Croydon.
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