Altamar to begin raising direct fund in April

Amy King
26 March 2014

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Spanish fund-of-funds manager Altamar Private Equity is to raise a €200m direct investment fund to target distressed real estate opportunities in the local market, with fundraising beginning in April.

The firm already has a 10-strong team in real estate, which represents $350m of the $2bn assets it currently has under management.

The decision to pursue direct investments was supported by the increasing appetite for co-investment in the sector from the family offices represented in the firm's LP base. According to a source: "The appetite for co-investment was driven by foreign investors initially, but now mid-size Spanish family offices are also very interested. But these investors need dealflow and a team to manage the investments."

The firm will target small-cap deals, pitching its strategy below that followed by global giants, such as Apollo, that are already active in Spanish real estate in the upper mid-cap segment.

Fundraising is expected to begin in April with Latin American investors, followed by local family offices and other institutions. Altamar hopes to close the fund in a short period of time: "This is an opportunistic fund, it needs to be raised relatively quickly," the source said.

Altamar will work with Aktua, a real estate loan servicer backed by Centerbridge Partners, the New York-based private equity firm. Altamar is a co-investor in Aktua and is represented in Centerbridge's LP base.

The firm currently has around $2bn in assets under management (AUM) invested in Europe, the US, Asia and Latin America. Altamar has invested in private equity funds since its foundation in 2004. In 2009, it closed its first dedicated secondaries vehicle, Altamar Secondary Opportunities IV FCR, on €65m, exceeding the original €50m target. According to unquote" data, Altamar contributed to more than 2% of the fund's total commitments.

A subsequent secondaries and co-investments fund, Altamar Secondary Opportunities VII FCR, was recently closed at its hard-cap of €150m. Approximately 20-30% of the firm's AUM is available for secondaries and co-investments, equal to around €400-600m.

In 2012, LarrainVial and Consorcio Nacional de Seguros, a Chilean investment bank and financial services firm respectively, acquired a 20% stake in the holding company of Altamar. The acquisition extended the partnership between Altamar and LarrainVial, which had collaborated on several projects, including the distribution of the Altamar V vehicle, a global primary fund-of-funds in Latin America.