Empira Group, a vertically integrated real estate investment manager and a Partners Group company, together with Partners Group, a global private markets firm, has announced the Empira Pan-European Living Strategy. This closed-end real estate strategy aims to acquire equity commitments of EUR 1 billion. The focus is on building a diversified portfolio of institutional-quality living assets in European metropolitan areas. The strategy aims to benefit from the structural housing shortage, the increasing demand for professionally managed rental accommodation, and the progressive institutionalisation of the European living sector.
The fund will be managed by an integrated investment team that combines the complementary expertise of Partners Group and Empira. This team merges pan-European investment expertise with local capabilities in sourcing, development, construction, asset management, and property management. The expanded real estate platforms of both companies collectively boast over 265 real estate professionals across 19 global locations and manage properties with a gross asset value of approximately USD 57 billion.
Strategic Direction and Market Context
The strategy's launch occurs in a context of structural changes in European housing markets. A discrepancy between housing supply and demand is observable in many metropolitan areas. Concurrently, decreasing affordability of homeownership and demographic developments contribute to a growing number of households relying on rental accommodation. Estimates suggest a need for approximately 9.6 million additional housing units in Europe. The number of long-term tenants is continuously increasing, supporting the demand for professionally managed, energy-efficient rental housing. The share of institutional owners in the European residential property market remains comparatively small.
The European living sector is fragmented, characterised by heterogeneous regulatory frameworks and operational complexity. This opens up specific opportunities for investment platforms with local market knowledge and execution capabilities across the value chain. The strategy has been developed to leverage these potentials through a flexible investment approach that considers various forms of housing.
- —Multi-family housing
- —Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA)
- —Senior living
- —Single-family homes
Investment Focus and Portfolio Structure
The Empira Pan-European Living Strategy will invest entirely in living assets in European metropolitan areas, with Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain as core markets. The aim is to build a diversified portfolio through strategic acquisitions, selective project developments, active asset management, and tactical investment opportunities. It is planned that the strategy will comprise 20 to 30 investments, diversified geographically, by living sub-segment, and by investment type. The envisaged portfolio structure anticipates an allocation of approximately 50% to multi-family housing and 50% to other living strategies such as PBSA, senior living, and single-family homes.
Value creation approaches include active asset management, operational improvements, refurbishment and repositioning, selective project developments, and the energy-efficient modernisation of existing residential properties. The investment approach also offers the flexibility to unlock opportunities through structured capital solutions. The fund targets a net IRR of over 12% and a maximum leverage at portfolio level of 60% loan-to-cost during the investment period. The initial term of the fund is seven years, with the option for extensions.
Lahcen Knapp, Founder and Chairman of Empira Group, stated that the launch represents a significant step in the further development of the European residential real estate platform. He emphasised that Empira has built local investment and operational expertise in housing markets over two decades. Through the cooperation with Partners Group, these capabilities can be combined with a global investment platform. Knapp highlighted that living is a locally and operationally intensive asset class and successful investing requires not only the identification of attractive markets and assets but also the local expertise to implement the business plan.
The launch brings together Partners Group's long-standing real estate investment expertise with Empira's vertically integrated European residential real estate platform. The joint real estate platform has over 250 investment professionals across 15 locations in Europe, with a European real estate GAV of over EUR 25 billion and a European living GAV of approximately EUR 6.9 billion. The platform is involved in over 630 living properties in Europe and covers the entire investment lifecycle. This includes specialised expertise in investment management, fund management, debt solutions, construction and development management, as well as asset and property management. This vertically integrated model is intended to enable local sourcing capabilities and allow the team to actively control key value-creation levers throughout an asset's lifecycle.
