BC Partners, one of the stalwarts of the European private capital industry, is offloading its real estate arm as it sharpens its focus on core mid-market strategies in private equity and private credit.
The London-headquartered firm has sold its real estate platform, BC Partners Real Estate (BCPRE), to Proprium Capital Partners, a global real estate investor owned by UK-based asset manager L&G, according to a statement.
BCPRE was founded in 2018 and closed its inaugural fund on about $1 billion, the statement said. The fund will continue to be managed by the former BCPRE team of 17, all of whom will join Proprium. The transaction will add $1 billion to Proprium’s real estate assets under management.
BC Partners will retain some economic interest in the fund – including fees and carry – and will also retain some upsides tied to the team’s future fundraising performance, Private Equity International understands. Proprium will take over the daily operation of the fund.
BC Partners declined to share financial details of the transaction.
The BCPRE team, which delivered decent performance on a relative basis, faced some fundraising headwinds, according to a source familiar with the transaction. The decision to offload BCPRE comes as BC Partners concluded that it may no longer be the right platform to grow its real estate business, it is understood.
Raymond Svider, chairman of BC Partners, said the firm will continue to focus on PE and private credit, and that “the time is now right” for the BCPRE platform to join Proprium for the next phase of growth.
Stéphane Theuriau, former head of BCPRE, said: “The resilience of our portfolios through an unprecedented period for the real estate sector underscores the strength of both our model and our team, and we see significant opportunities ahead.”
Theuriau will become vice-chairman at Proprium, while the other two leaders of the former BCPRE team – Laurian Douin and Thibault Lauprêtre – will be made partners, according to the statement.
L&G is one of the largest asset managers in the world with roughly £1.12 trillion ($1.53 trillion; €1.3 trillion) in AUM, according to its website. The firm acquired a 75 percent stake in Proprium last May.
It is not uncommon for PE firms to divest from strategies after spending time trying to scale those businesses. In 2020, EQT sold off its debt business to focus on other priorities, including expanding across geographies and developing private wealth strategies. In a 2024 interview with PEI, chief executive Christian Sinding described the 2020 sale as “one of the best decisions” EQT has ever made as it helped sharpen the firm’s strategic focus.
Fundraising for real estate vehicles rebounded last year after three years of decline, per data from affiliate title PERE. Funds raised a collective $222.2 billion January-through-December, a 22 percent rise on the prior year’s $172.4 billion.
link
