LaSalle Investment To Buy Aviva Unit, Fund

LONDON–In a bid to strengthen its global footprint, LaSalle Investment Management is acquiring Aviva Investors’ indirect real estate multi-manager business (REMM) and an interest in Encore+, a pan-European commercial property fund. At the same time, Aviva Investors has combined its real estate, infrastructure and private debt businesses to create multi billion dollar real assets business.

Aviva’s REMM business has $7 billion of assets under management. When the deal, which is still subject to client and regulatory approvals, closes sometime by the end of this year, LaSalle will be one of the top five largest global non-listed indirect real estate investment managers with combined assets under management of $10 billion. The acquisition will allow LaSalle to better offer third party fund investments, joint-ventures and co-investments, said Jeff Jacobson, Global CEO of LaSalle Investment Management.

Ed Casal, who is joining LaSalle from his current role as CEO of Real Estate at Aviva and co-founder of its Global Indirect Real Estate business, will head up the new division. Casal will be based in New York and will also be joining LaSalle’s Global Management Committee.

LaSalle is also acquiring Aviva’s rights and responsibilities as the fund manager of Encore+, the open-ended Continental European real estate fund which has been jointly managed and run by LaSalle and Aviva for eleven years. With this deal, LaSalle will become the sole manager of Encore+ and David Ironside will become the fund manager. The fund has been a top performing performer in the IPD PEPFI index on an aggregate five-year basis.

Aviva’s New Focus

The transaction is part of Aviva’s new focus on focus on being a direct operator in real assets. To that end it is forming Aviva Investors Real Assets (AIRA). The company will now focus on its existing origination strengths in Europe and building out its product and global distribution capabilities, says CEO Euan Munro.