The Lowy Family Group, the private company of Sir Frank Lowy and his sons David, Peter and Steven, has injected $75M as the cornerstone investor from new fund manager Assembly Funds Management. The investment will provide an initial 50% interest in the new Australian Diversified Property Fund 1, with co- investments from former Westfield Chief Operating Officer Michael Gutman for $10M and private equity firm Alceon, with $65M of pooled funds from its founders and domestic family office investors.
The Fund will look to invest in real estate equity and debt deals and expects to raise a further $150M over the next two years from family offices and institutions as its builds a real estate portfolio across all property classes. With total equity of around $300M and planned leverage of 40%, the Fund will be able to acquire around $450M of assets. Mr Gutman, founder of Assembly Funds is expected to manage the Fund and Alceon will provide back office support. The Fund is targeting distributions of 5% - 6% and an IRR of 10% - 12%.