LONDON, May 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, has entered into an agreement to acquire the Real Estate Multi-Manager (“REMM”) business of Aviva Investors (“Aviva”), and full ownership of the management of the Encore+ fund.

Aviva’s REMM business has $7 billion of assets under management. LaSalle and Aviva have entered into a binding contract and the deal is expected to close by the end of year. Together with our existing capabilities, LaSalle will be one of the top five largest global non-listed indirect real estate investment managers with combined assets under management of $10bn across all geographies and risk profiles.

The division will be headed up by Ed Casal, who, as part of this acquisition, will be joining LaSalle from his current role as CEO of Real Estate at Aviva and Co-Founder of its Global Indirect Real Estate business. Ed, who will be based in New York, will also be joining LaSalle’s Global Management Committee.

LaSalle will also be acquiring Aviva’s rights and responsibilities as the Fund Manager of Encore+, the open-ended Continental European real estate fund which has been jointly managed and run by both parties for eleven years. LaSalle will become the sole manager of Encore+ and David Ironside will become the Fund Manager. The Fund, which currently has a gross asset value of €1.7 billion, was recently recognised as the best performing fund in the IPD PEPFI for 2017. It has also been the top performing fund in the index on an aggregate five-year basis.

Jeff Jacobson, Global CEO of LaSalle Investment Management commented: “I am delighted to announce this joint acquisition of Aviva’s REMM business and its interest in the management of the Encore+ fund. A strong multi-manager capacity has become increasingly important to LaSalle’s clients and our global footprint and expertise provide a solid foundation to strengthen the incoming global indirect capabilities. This will enhance our capabilities to offer comprehensive integrated investment solutions across the risk spectrum in third party fund investing, joint-ventures and co-investments.

“We have always regarded Encore+ as our flagship diversified open-end fund in Continental Europe and I am delighted that we will become the sole manager for the Fund. LaSalle has been a co-sponsor of the fund since its inception and I consider it a natural evolution to bring all operations under one roof in the next stage of its growth.”

Euan Munro, Chief Executive Officer of Aviva Investors, said: “This deal makes sense for both parties, as well as clients in the REMM business and Encore+. We will now focus our efforts on being a direct operator in our chosen markets in Real Assets, which is a strategic priority for our business.”

About Encore+
Encore+ is a diversified, Continental European real estate fund which aims to deliver stable and growing income alongside long-term capital appreciation, from an actively-managed portfolio, in a monthly dealt open-ended fund structure. The Fund has been co-managed by LaSalle and Aviva Investors for 11 years whereby Aviva Investors is the Fund Manager and LaSalle is the Asset Manager. Encore+ is being managed from Aviva Investors in Frankfurt and has a strong German Investor base. In 2017, it was ranked by MSCI as the top performing fund on a one and five year basis in the MSCI Pan-European Property Funds Balanced Funds Index (PEPFI).

About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers with approximately $60 billion of private and public equity and private debt investments under management (as of Q1 2018). LaSalle’s diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. LaSalle sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including separate accounts, open- and closed-end funds, public securities and entity-level investments. LaSalle is a wholly-owned, operationally independent subsidiary of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL), one of the world’s largest real estate companies. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com.

About Aviva Investors
Aviva Investors is one of the world’s largest asset managers with expertise in real estate, fixed income, equity, multi-asset and alternative investments with €404 billion of assets under management in 15 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and the United Kingdom (as at 31 December 2016). Aviva Investors is also one of the largest managers of European real estate assets having been managing real estate investments since 1972 with assets under management of €50 billion (as at 31 December 2016). Aviva Investors further is the global asset management business of Aviva plc. The business delivers investment management solutions, services and client-driven performance to clients worldwide. For more information please visit https://www.avivainvestors.com

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SOURCE LaSalle Investment Management