LONDON & Dubai 28 April 20014: RiverCrossing Capital Partners, an alternative investment management firm dedicated to providing Islamically-compliant investment opportunities to GCC investors, today announced the launch of the firm with its inaugural US$125 million RiverCrossing Alternative Real Estate US fund.
RiverCrossing employs a strategic co-investment model whereby it originates and structures cross border opportunities alongside specialised, best-in-class asset managers in the US and Europe in number of asset classes and sectors to include Real Estate, Energy and Infrastructure as well Leasing.
RiverCrossing Alternative Real Estate US, builds on this model, and has been established with Virtus Real Estate Capital, a leading US manager that has invested more than US$2.3 billion in the domestic real estate market over the last decade. The Fund will invest in income-producing, cycle-resilient alternative real estate properties in senior housing, student housing, medical offices and self storage across various regions of the US. The Fund will be co-managed by RiverCrossing and Virtus with the underlying assets managed by Virtus and its regional operating partners.
An initial US$45 million close is being targeted for the end of the second quarter of 2014 with RiverCrossing and Virtus having already identified those assets to be acquired in a first tranche. The Fund, which will be offered to Private Investors (HNWIs and family offices), Institutional Investors (banks, wealth managers and corporates) and Sovereign Wealth Funds with Islamic interest in the GCC, expects to deliver a net cash-on-cash yield of approximately 8% and net IRR of 12% over a five year period.
Based in the UK and with a branch office soon to be registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), RiverCrossing's team, led by industry veterans Mohammed Abdulmalik and Asim Zafar, has an extensive track record of global deal origination and execution in the firm's core investment areas including Real Estate, as well as in Islamic structuring.
Mohammed Abdulmalik, Chairman of RiverCrossing, said, "RiverCrossing is well positioned to respond to growing demand in the GCC for alternative, Shariah-compliant investments. Combining our global investment expertise with that of our network of specialised asset managers in the US and Europe, we are creating new opportunities for investors for diversification and exposure to high quality managers they may otherwise be unable to identify and access. The RiverCrossing Alternative Real Estate US fund is the first of these global co-investment opportunities that we have developed and which we are delighted to bring to our investors."
Asim Zafar, CEO of RiverCrossing, added, "Despite the strong growth of Islamic finance, there continues to be a shortfall of supply for institutional-quality Islamic investments. We work with best-in-class managers and operators with proven track records in value creation. In doing so, we follow a rigorous investment process from strategy identification and partner selection to investment realization. To this process we bring both a critical view of global markets and a deep insight into the GCC region and its investor mind set. Together this allows us to deliver and structure unique co-investment opportunities for our investors while at the same time enabling those asset managers with whom we work to access differentiated sources of capital."
About RiverCrossing:
RiverCrossing Capital Partners is a management-owned, alternative investment management firm dedicated to providing Islamically-compliant investment solutions to merchant families, HNWIs and family businesses in the GCC region. RiverCrossing invests along-side best-in-class, specialised asset managers and operators to execute investment strategies in a number of sectors and regions globally with a particular focus on the US and Europe. RiverCrossing's team has experience working since 1997 in originating, structuring and managing close to US$7.8bn in Islamic investments. The firm operates out of the UK, where it is registered as an appointed Representative of Mirabella Financial Services LLP, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The firm is also soon to register a branch office within the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
About Virtus Real Estate Capital:
Virtus Real Estate Capital, based in Austin, Texas, specialises in investing and managing property types that show resilience over economic cycles, focusing on fragmented ownership and inefficient real estate asset classes to create value-add opportunities. These asset classes benefit from increasing demand that can be sustained over recession periods or a decline in general real estate values. The real estate types that
fall into this group include senior housing, student housing, medical offices and self-storage. Virtus continuously researches real estate asset classes to identify property types that meet the resilience criteria. Since Virtus was established in 2003, the firm has launched 35 real estate investment funds and partnerships that have invested in more than 159 properties with a combined acquisition cost of nearly US$2.3 billion. Virtus has established a strong track record in making real estate investments that have proven to be stable over the real estate market cycle achieving close to 37% IRR across all 25 realised funds with 92% of all properties delivering positive returns. Virtus works with a diversified mix of high quality sector and geographically focused operating partners to execute the day-to-day of Virtus value-add strategy.
For more information please contact:
RiverCrossing
Anas Ishaq Al-kooheji - Investor Relations
T +44 207 193 3385
M +973 32232231
www.rivercrossingcapital.com
Media Contact:
FinMark Communications
UK - Laila Danesh
T +44 (0) 207 887 7840
M +44 770 333 0024
Ldanesh@finmarkcoms.com
GCC - Zahraa Taher
T +973 17 749 759
M +973 39 630 997
Ztaher@finmarkcoms.com
© Press Release 2014
