London and Beijing, 16 January 2014 – As part of a long-term commitment to forge and maintain relationships with investors and property developers in China, Europa Capital, the specialist European real estate fund manager, has entered into a strategic partnership with Beijing-based China advisory specialists Ilex Partners Limited (“Ilex”).
With Chinese investors rapidly growing and diversifying their asset base into overseas alternative investments, Europa Capital and Ilex Partners are working closely together with China’s leading institutional investors, life insurers and property developers to satisfy their growing appetite for overseas real estate investment.
Charles Graham, a Founding Partner of Europa Capital said “Europa Capital and Ilex recognise that Chinese capital will become an increasingly influential investor force in the European market in the years to come. Although much of the recent international real estate investment activity has been focused on the UK and, in particular London, Europa Capital expects that the investment focus will steadily broaden in search of return to encompass mainland Europe, where Europa Capital has considerable investment experience. Europa Capital’s local expertise across Europe and strong deal pipeline enable it to unlock unique investment opportunities, which it is able to share with long-term Chinese partners.”
William Stonor, CEO, Ilex, said: “We are delighted to be working with Europa Capital, a member of New York-based Rockefeller Group, and to assist them with building their presence in China. Chinese outbound investment has grown fivefold since 2005 to $77bn in 2012 and Europa Capital is an ideal partner for Chinese investors seeking to invest in the European real estate sector. We believe that the combination of Europa Capital’s impressive track record in European real estate investment and Ilex’s extensive expertise in China will generate tremendous opportunities for Chinese investors in European real estate.”
Europa Capital LLP is a specialist fund manager investing on behalf of more than 90 international investing institutions into European real estate. It is a member of New York based Rockefeller Group (“RGI”), itself part of a global real estate management group with AUM of more than $20 billion. Europa Capital’s management team is arguably the most experienced in Europe, whose senior members have been active in European real estate for more than 30 years.
Since 1995, Europa Capital’s Principals have collectively raised 7 real estate funds and committed to over 75 transactions totaling some €7 billion across 18 European countries.
The company acquires and manages European real estate investments across most of the principal investment sectors, but with a particular focus on office, retail, residential and industrial property. On behalf of its investors it pursues both capital growth and income strategies, including debt.
The Europa Funds benefit from Europa Capital’s established network of partners across Europe who co-invest in acquisitions made by the Europa Funds. These country and joint venture partner relationships in some cases extend back more than 20 years.
Europa Capital’s belief in the importance of long-term investor relationships isreflected in its ownership structure as a partnership, whose members haveworked together for many years, and also its investment structure, which has an emphasis on alignment of interest with investors evidenced by its willingness toco-invest.
Europa Capital Partners LLP and Europa Capital LLP are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.
Further information can be found at www.europacapital.com
About Ilex Partners Limited:Ilex Partners is a corporate advisory firm that specializes in China and the world’s fastest growing markets, with operations in Beijing. Its expertise is built upon deep in-country knowledge and an exceptional global network. Ilex specialises in the natural resources, infrastructure and real estate sectors as well as the private equity, investment management and financial services industries. Ilex is proud of the long-term partnerships that it has established with some of the world’s most highly respected companies including Europa Capital and Barclays Natural Resource Investments, a division of Barclays Bank PLC.
Ilex’s senior management consist of individuals with over 50 years combined experience in Mainland China. Ilex Partners was founded by chief executive William Stonor following careers in private equity and the British Diplomatic Service, Lord Camoys, former founder and chief executive of Barclays de Zoete Wedd which later became Barclays Capital, and Timothy Beardson, former founder and chief executive of Crosby Securities. Lord Camoys was a director of Barclays for more than 20 years and later served as Lord Chamberlain to Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II. Timothy Beardson, who from 1984 to 1999, was chairman, chief executive and majority shareholder of Crosby developed the business into one of the largest independent investment banks in the Far East, with 650 staff in 10 countries from New York to Beijing.
Ilex is also supported by Zhe Zhang, a Managing Director in Ilex’s Beijing office, who worked for Goldman Sachs’ Beijing office prior to joining Ilex.
Further information can be found at www.ilex-group.com.
For further information, please contact:
RLM Finsbury :Alastair Hetherington / Gladys TangTel : +852 3166 9888Email : Alastair.Hetherington@RLMFinsbury.com /Gladys.Tang@RLMFinsbury.com
Europa Capital :
Jason Oram
Tel: +44 (0) 207 881 6800
Email: joram@EuropaCapital.com
Ilex Partners :
William Stonor
Tel: +86 10 5219 2830
Email: wstonor@ilex-group.com
