EQT boosts real estate focus with new hires

EQT has recruited Edouard Fernandez and Rob Racking, the co-founders of British real estate investor Wainbridge, as partners, as well as new director Fredrik Elwing.

Elwing joins from a managing director position at real estate capital advisory group Greenhill & Co, which he left in July 2014.

The hires mark the beginning of EQT's first foray into the real estate sector, which it believes holds opportunities for a pan-European firm to compete with the predominantly North American private equity players.

It is not clear whether real estate investments will be made through existing funds or through a dedicated vehicle yet to be raised.

A €5bn fund is rumoured to be in the cards for 2015 at EQT, though reports suggest it is likely to be a buyout fund. The GP last raised a buyout vehicle in 2011 – the €4.7bn EQT VI fund.

The GP is also investing from its 2013-vintage €1.925bn EQT Infrastructure II fund.

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• GPs
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