Cromwell European Real Estate Investment Trust (CEREIT) will be renamed Stoneweg European REIT (SERT) with effect from Jan 2, following a change in the ownership of its sponsor and substantial unitholder.
Back in May 23, Icona Capital, an alternative investment group, and real estate investment group Stoneweg, announced they are paying Cromwell Property Group €280 million to take over its 27.9% stake in the REIT.
As part of the transaction, Cromwell is also selling the REIT manager and the property manager of the REIT. The transactions have been completed.
"The new name, Stoneweg European REIT, aligns the REIT’s corporate identity with that of its new sponsor," says CEREIT on Dec 24.
As the sponsor, Stoneweg has entered into a right of first refusal with SERT over its current and future pipeline of commercial assets that match SERT’s mandate.
As part of the change, the REIT's board will see two new non-independent non-executive directors: Stoneweg CEO Jaume Sabater, and Yovav Carmi, described by CEREIT as "an experienced real estate executive who has served on the management boards of the publicly listed real estate group Globe Trade Centre and its foreign subsidiaries for over 20 years."
See also: Stoneweg European REIT reports 0.3% growth in valuations for six months to December 2024
They take the place of Jonathan Callaghan and Ooi Eng Peng. The REIT's board remains at six directors, of whom three are independent.
Stoneweg has some €8 billion in assets under management across a diversified range of real estate sectors, managed by more than 300 people across 15 European countries, the US and Singapore.
"Our strong European network and experience as a sponsor of a Swiss-listed US residential real estate company, Varia US, puts us in good stead to support Stoneweg European REIT's growth potential," says Sabater.
See also: Keppel DC REIT divesting Basis Bay Data Centre in Malaysia at 2.6% above valuation
"We look forward to working closely with the board and the management team to execute on the strategy and deliver sustainable unitholder returns," he adds.
The transaction is a "great step" towards its ambition to build a major institutional platform, and the logical and natural next move following its capital partnership with Stoneweg, says Icona Capital founder and chairman Max-Hervé George.
"With this acquisition, we are leveraging on Icona and Stoneweg’s complementarity and we are expanding our exposure to new sectors and geographies that will form a key part of our multi-asset offering.
"With the economic picture showing signs of improvement, 2025 has the potential to be a great vintage and there is no doubt our growth will be exponential over the next decade," adds George.
Simon Garing, CEO of the REIT manager says that the REIT's mandate remains the same and is fully aligned with all unitholders.
"We are committed to our strategic pivot towards logistics / light industrial and high quality office assets in Europe and remain focussed on providing unitholders with sustainable and growing distributions and NAV per unit over the medium to long term," he adds.
CEREIT closed at €1.59 on Dec 24 - unchanged for the day but up 12.77% year to date.
