Bouwinvest Opens Asia-Pacific Office in Sydney

Dutch institutional manager, Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors, has opened an office in Sydney, Australia, its first outside the Netherlands, to spearhead its target growth in invested capital in Asia-Pacific markets to €1.5 billion in 2021.

Tjarko Edzes, Director APAC, has moved to Sydney to lead the strengthening of Bouwinvest’s presence in the region through enhanced deal sourcing, improved monitoring of onsite operating partners and boosting its market networks. He joined Bouwinvest in 2014 and has 22 years of experience in real estate investment.

Stephen Tross, Bouwinvest Chief Investment Officer International Investments, said: “Bouwinvest is working towards a balanced and diversified global real estate portfolio, with a target 40% of our total AUM in international assets and 60% in our domestic funds in the Netherlands. The fast-growing Asia-Pacific markets will play a key role in achieving those ambitious growth targets.”

Last year, Bouwinvest completed just under €300 million in transactions in APAC, while total international deal volume reached €900 million.

Recent APAC portfolio investments are well-diversified by property sector and geography and include:

• Co-investment in a Hong Kong retail portfolio
• A 50% stake as founding investor in a €155 million residential-for-rent portfolio in Tokyo
• Co-investment in a prime logistics/industrial site in Singapore
• Follow-on investment in Bouwinvest’s existing partnership targeting student housing in Australia
• Commitment as founding investor to a club targeting residential-for-rent properties in Shanghai 

Tjarko Edzes, Bouwinvest Director APAC, said: “Bouwinvest’s Asia-Pacific portfolio is on a strong growth trajectory and the new Sydney office  is well-located to maintain this momentum and coordinate the expansion strategy, as Australia is currently our largest investment market in the region by asset value.”        

Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors BV is one of the largest Dutch institutional property investors with €11.3 billion in invested capital globally and the ambition to grow total AUM to about €15 billion by 2021.

Bouwinvest plans to open a second international office in New York for North American markets later this year.