Global manager buys Altis Property Partners

Global investment manager and a subsidiary of MassMutual, Barings has announced it has acquired Australia-based real estate company, Altis Property Partners for the undisclosed sum, with the transaction expected to close on September 1.

Upon closing, Barings would add 44 professionals with expertise in real estate equity and $6.079 billion assets under management (AUM), primarily focused on value-add strategies that complement Barings’ real estate debt team in Australia, the firm said.

At the same time, it confirmed that Altis’ executive directors and staff would remain with the firm following the acquisition.

“We’re excited to welcome Altis to our real estate platform as we strengthen our local investment capabilities in Australia and continue to expand our footprint in the region,” Mike Freno, Barings chairman and chief executive, said.

“Asia Pacific makes up approximately a third of Barings’ third-party AUM and is expected to be a key driver of growth for us. Barings has successfully led private credit and real estate debt investments in Australia and we’re confident Altis will help us broaden our investment capabilities in the region.”

Charles Weeks, Barings head of Europe and APAC Real Estate,  added that Barings had a well-established real estate platform across the U.S. and Europe with expertise in core and value-add investments based on research-driven and local on the ground presence.

This acquisition would be also expected to help further build out its real estate platform in Asia Pacific, with a focus on Australia before expanding into other markets such as Japan and Korea over time.

Altis, which was founded in 2008, is an Australian, independently-owned, private equity real estate investment company, with expertise in industrial, office, retail warehouse, residential and other specialist real estate sectors across the risk spectrum including core, value-add and development.

Since inception Altis has acquired and developed over $8 billion of real estate with current assets under management of $6.079 billion.