Patrick Flaton spoke to Property Funds World to discuss Avignon’s new mandate to invest in Australia.
Avignon Capital, a boutique London-based European property investment firm and asset manager, has received a new mandate to invest in Australia, where it will focus on office real estate and hotels.
Having previously invested exclusively and successfully in Europe, Avignon Capital will target Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, where it is looking to expand its network.
Avignon Capital has enjoyed its most successful financial year to date, with 18 acquisitions and seven disposals across Europe totalling a record EUR565 million in deal volume.
Disposals have included a number of triple-digit returns, such as the sale of its Copenhagen retail portfolio, which secured a 154 per cent return on equity.
Discussing the record financial year, Patrick Flaton, CFOO of Avignon Capital, says: “Considering we have quite a small team it is a great achievement. At the start of the process we really focus on making sure we close the deal, as soon as we make a bid and work with the client we look to ensure that we finalise it. That is in our DNA. We take everything seriously and if we say we are going to do something we make sure we do. There are some managers who are happy to make a bid for fear of losing out on information. We have a different angle.”
Having strengthened its footprint in Europe by expanding into the Netherlands and opening an office in Berlin, the next stage of Avignon’s evolution is Asia, with Australia the first key market to build its portfolio. As Flaton points out, the mandate it has received there will help to diversify the company’s risk beyond the UK and Europe.
The principals for the Australian market are more or less the same as they are for Europe, says Flaton. “Our investors are really keen on this market and we want to focus on growing that part of our portfolio. We will focus on commercial real estate – hotels, exhibition centres, offices and so on”.
The full article is available to read on Property Funds World