Aukera Real Estate AG (Aukera) is an independent, owner-managed investment boutique based in Oberhausen. On 26 August the company received a commitment of 275 million euros for the real estate debt fund it is consulting on. The first institutional investor is a German life insurance company.
Early in the third quarter of 2020, the Aukera investment team set up a Luxembourg-based fund with the legal form of a S.C.A. SICAV-RAIF, which will henceforth be available for institutional and professional investors as a suitable investment vehicle. The investment focus of the real estate debt fund is commercial real estate financing in continental Europe, with the financing spectrum comprising senior and mezzanine debt as well as project financing and short-term bridge loans.
Lars Armgart, CEO of Aukera: “With the first closing shortly after commencement of our business activities on 1 July 2020, we have taken a crucial step with our newly founded company. We are currently working on the first potential investments, which we aim to close promptly for our investors.” He explains: “Investors’ appetite for managed debt capital investments is high. One of the key reasons for this is that over the past few years, in spite of price increases and the associated falling equity capital returns in the real estate market, we have been able to offer above-average risk-return profiles for investors with our asset class real estate debt. The borrower’s equity contribution acts as a risk buffer and represents a further advantage for the asset class of real estate debt during this current market phase. Among borrowers too, the demand for alternative financing partners remains unbroken. The deal flow during the first ten weeks after business start was more than 1.9 billion euros.”
The range of services provided by the German-speaking real estate debt management professionals at Aukera includes investment solutions for institutional and professional investors, as well as tailored financing for borrowers. The founders of Aukera are Lars Armgart (CEO), Antje Bonnewitz (Investment Manager), Markus Oelmann (Manager Fund Operations) and Markus Schulz (Investment Manager). Together, they have spent many years advising on commercial real estate financing and can look back on a successful track record.
