ING Real Estate backs its views by co-investing
Although the long-term trend globally is towards listed real estate vehicles, ING Real Estate Investment Management didn’t hesitate when it saw an opportunity to take a listed Canadian Reit private in October 2006. The Summit Reit, valued at C$3.5 billion ($3.3 billion), provided ING Real Estate’s investors with the opportunity to access the solid Canadian market.
"We thought the market was mispricing the Reit and that by taking it private it would provide existing investors in Summit Reit a good return and our incoming investors access to the pre-eminent industrial portfolio and management team in Canada," says David Blight, chairman and CEO of ING Real Estate Investment Management. In addition, the deal gave ING Real Estate an immediate platform in Canada and it subsequently sold down 50% of the fund to other investors. "There has since been a spate of public to private deals in the Canadian market," he says.