ING funds first purchase by Valad’s €500m Dutch venture

ING has backed Valad Europe in its first purchase for its new Dutch vehicle, Valad Netherlands Diversified Partnership (VNDP).

Valad has entered into a joint venture agreement with an unnamed investor to build a €500m diversified portfolio of core-plus/value-add assets in the country.

ING has funded Valad’s purchase of the €140m UNO portfolio from Unibail-Rodamco with a loan of around €90m. The portfolio comprises six assets totalling around 53,000 sq m of office and 6,000 sq m of retail space. The Dutch market saw a steady recovery throughout last year, having been one of Europe’s more depressed post-downturn, with equity and debt beginning to flood back into the country’s property market.

VNDP can employ leverage of 60% to 70%, has an initial target gross asset value of €500m and has been seeded with €200m of equity. Valad said debt would be sourced “from a pool of lenders with whom Valad Europe already has existing relationships”.

Christian Bearman, Valad Europe’s head of corporate development and operations, said: “We are pleased to be partnering with an investor who shares our desire to capitalise on this window of opportunity in the Dutch real estate market.

“Valuations and occupancy levels in certain sub-markets of the Netherlands are currently out of sync with the underlying economic recovery, providing an attractive counter cyclical opportunity for the Valad Netherlands Diversified Partnership to invest on a large scale in high quality offices, industrial and out-of-town retail assets in specific strategic locations.”

Led by chairman Martyn McCarthy (pictured), Valad Europe manages €4.9bn of real estate assets across 20 funds and mandates in Europe. Majority shareholder Blackstone is currently selling its stake in the business, bought in 2011. A deal is expected with a new investor around the end of the first quarter.

ING’s financing follows a flurry of deals by the bank at the end of last year, including a £365m loan to Safra for its purchase of 30 St Mary Axe, a £120m debt facility for TH Real Estate’s Houndsditch Estate (both in the City of London) and a €125m loan for the purchase of the Islazul shopping centre in Madrid, also for TH Real Estate.