The BMB Group forms Pan European Real Estate Leader

The BMB Group has invested an undisclosed amount into Alliance Capital Partners to create a pan-European commercial and residential real estate market leader. The new firm, BMB Alliance, begins its activities with over US$4 billion of assets under management, making it one of the most significant independent commercial real estate asset management companies in Northern Europe. These assets include US$1.3 billion in Dutch core and core-plus offices and logistics, US$1.7 billion in German residential portfolios and US$1 billion in core-plus shopping-malls in Europe. The BMB Group will invest US$500 million over the next 18 months into the activities of Alliance Capital Group and will develop a series of new funds, the first of which will be announced in a matter of weeks. This is part of a strategy to add an additional US$3 billion in assets over the next 24 months.

Rayo Withanage, Chairman of The BMB Group, stated: “BMB Alliance is representative of The BMB Group’s intention to serve its clients with strategic long-term investment opportunities. We see the recent real estate market movements in Europe as an opportunity for Eastern investors to capture global market positions. We are delighted to partner with Tom Moeskops and the rest of the team at Alliance Capital. The BMB Group will be expanding its real estate capabilities through investments around the world, with a special focus on the Middle East, the Americas and Asia.”

J Gary Peters, Head of Global Real Estate at The BMB Group, commented: “BMB Alliance is a continuation of The BMB Group’s stated strategy of acquiring best-in-class managers to serve its investors. We are intending to seek and acquire similar real estate investment vehicles around the world over the next twelve months.”

Alliance Capital Group is a Netherlands-based real estate investment vehicle led by successful real estate entrepreneur, Tom Moeskops, who has developed an excellent market reputation in the Netherlands and Germany as a real estate investor. Tom Moeskops, CEO of Alliance Capital Group, commented: “We are excited to become part of The BMB Group and leverage the capital and relationships of its investors to develop our operations. We see this as a unique match of capital and market know-how to consolidate an industry leadership position in these turbulent times.”

The formation of BMB Alliance is highly significant. Traditionally, Middle Eastern and Asian investors have invested in trophy real estate assets in Europe. This move by The BMB Group is an indication that significant Eastern investors are interested in opportunities arising from the large-scale real estate refinancings that are predicted to take place in Europe over the next year. Gary Peters stated, “We see a number of special situations in the commercial and residential sectors in major European markets and believe that Tom Moeskops is ideally placed to capitalise on this phenomenon.”

The new business will invest in a wide range of asset classes including retail, offices, logistics and residential developments. The aim is to build a number of specialized platforms through a buy‐and‐build strategy of combining asset management platforms and real estate portfolios. The synergies between The BMB Group and Alliance are very strong. The new firm is the first to combine such strong pan European expertise in commercial and real estate properties with such significant eastern investors. The new firm has offices in New York, London, Eindhoven, Berlin, Zürich, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Kuala Lumpur and Brunei.