Round Hill Capital Acquires portfolio of residential property assets in the Netherlands and launches New Dutch Residential Investment Strategy

UK / Netherlands, 2 July 2020 – Round Hill Capital, a leading global real estate investment, development and asset management firm, announces that funds advised by Round Hill Capital have acquired a portfolio of residential property assets in city centre locations in the Netherlands through its new Dutch residential investment strategy.

This acquisition marks the first investment in a new joint venture between Round Hill Capital and a sovereign wealth fund in the Middle East. Both parties are committed to investing in, developing and managing further residential property in the Netherlands in a responsible manner, and look forward to carefully building a substantial well-managed residential platform in the country.

The portfolio of properties announced today, comprises 14 assets, 12 of which were recently redeveloped from vacant offices to 821 residential apartments that are focused on providing affordable homes for lower income tenant groups. The assets in the portfolio benefit from low vacancy rates and are well positioned in city centre areas with strong and increasing demand for housing, with the apartments located across Amersfoort, Arnhem, Apeldoorn and Deventer. The portfolio also consists of commercial units, parking spaces and storage units as well as two assets with development potential.

Through leveraging Round Hill Capital’s experience in responsibly investing in and managing European residential properties, there are opportunities to enhance further the assets through capital investment in refurbishments and operational improvements.

Round Hill Capital remains committed to continuing to invest in and manage real estate in the Netherlands on behalf of multiple investors and continues to actively pursue further investments across its wider accommodation strategies, including development and purpose-built student accommodation, in the Netherlands and select markets in Europe and the U.S.

Round Hill Capital was advised on the transaction by Greenberg Traurig, Deloitte and SGS Search. The vendor was advised by EY Mergers & Acquisitions, AKD, VBC Notarissen and Loor Legal.

In 2014, Round Hill Capital established its residential investment and asset management platform in the Netherlands and parties advised by Round Hill Capital were the first international investors to build a substantial portfolio of Dutch residential real estate assets following the Global Financial Crisis. Through multiple portfolio acquisitions and subsequent capital investment, Round Hill Capital significantly enhanced the quality of the underlying assets and consolidated them into a single in-house management platform. As a result, both the efficiency and performance of the portfolio improved for tenants and investors alike.

In March 2019, Round Hill Capital sold this residential property portfolio of 9,544 units in the Netherlands to Heimstaden AB for a total purchase price of €1.39 billion.

Commenting on the transaction, Michael Bickford, founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital, said:
“Round Hill Capital has an 18-year track record of successfully investing, developing and responsibly managing real estate assets across Europe, with an established expertise in residential housing. Our acquisition of this portfolio through our newly launched Dutch residential investment strategy further enhances our wider accommodation platforms in the Netherlands, which remain a key focus of our business strategy and growth plans despite the ongoing global uncertainty as to the impact and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Round Hill Capital established its residential investment and asset management platform in the Netherlands in 2014 and we have significant capital to deploy into our strong and growing pipeline of investment opportunites in select areas of the Netherlands, wider Europe and the U.S., which continue to see long term supply constraints coupled with deep and increasing tenant demand for healthy, safe and inspiring places in which to live and work.”