Finance Institutional Investment
CBRE Investors Closes $2.1B Real Estate Fund
May 14, 2008
By: Denise L. Meyer, Contributing Correspondent

CB Richard Ellis Investors has announced the closing of CB Richard Ellis Strategic Partners U.S. 5 to new investors.  Strategic Partners U.S. 5 consists of two limited partnerships, with raised equity commitments of $2.1 billion from institutional investors in the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The funds are expected to have total purchasing power of $6.4 billion.

Strategic Partners U.S. Value 5 plans to make value-added investments to reposition assets, stabilize moderate levels of vacancy, invest in “controlled risk” development and pursue a portfolio accumulation strategy in highly rated major metropolitan areas in the United States.

The Partnership will also execute extensive repositioning programs primarily in distressed assets with high levels of vacancy, invest in “early stage” development, acquire and reposition portfolios and invest in operating companies that control high-quality real estate. Both funds will invest in office, multi-family, industrial and retail properties.

According to a CBRE spokesperson, Strategic Partners US 5 will execute both value and opportunistic investment styles instead of being limited to one or the other as it has been with other funds.

The Strategic Partners U.S. program is part of a global closed-end real estate private equity fund series that has closed 14 funds/investment programs since 2000 with $7.5 billion in committed equity and more than $22 billion in total purchasing power.
 
The Maryland Daily Record reported today that another CBRE division, CBRE Realty Finance Inc., has been sued by investors. According to the Daily Record, that suit claims that CBRE deceived investors before its initial public offering by failing to disclose the risk of two real estate loans. Citigroup Inc., Wachovia Corp., Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group and JMP Group Inc., underwriters of the September 2006 IPO, are defendants in the suit that involved a deal with Annapolis based Triton Real Estate Partners L.L.C.

 
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