Blackbrook Capital, a newly launched European real estate investment firm, has received more than €1bn capital commitments from Eldridge Industries.
Founded by Gordon DuGan and Arvi Luoma, Blackbrook specialises in the acquisition of single-tenant net-leased commercial real estate assets across Europe.
The London-headquartered firm’s primary focus is on industrial assets including logistics, light manufacturing, cold storage and similar assets, as well as healthcare, hospitality, strategic office and speciality retail assets.
DuGan and Luoma will take on the roles of chairman and CEO respectively.
DuGan was previously CEO of Gramercy Property Trust. As part of Gramercy Property Trust, DuGan founded Gramercy Europe. He was previously CEO of WP Carey.
Luoma previously spent 14 years at WP Carey where he served as managing director, head of European investments.
Tony Minella, co-founder and president of Eldridge, said: “Eldridge has had success building a net lease platform in the US. DuGan and Luoma have highlighted a similar opportunity in the European market, providing businesses and property owners with efficient real estate financing solutions.
“Luoma has an exceptional track record of developing a net lease platform, and a keen eye for credit and risk management. DuGan brings a long track record in enterprise value creation through strong leadership.”
Luoma said: “We believe that commercial real estate owners and occupiers are better served investing their capital in their core business activities and growth initiatives, rather than tying up valuable capital in real estate assets.
“Our investment approach is geared towards helping our tenants do just that, and give them ability to grow their businesses and improve their assets by extracting value. Today, that can often mean a drive to transition businesses and real estate portfolios towards a greener and more sustainable future.”
DuGan said: “It’s apparent there are inefficiencies available in the European property market for Blackbrook to generate attractive returns.
“We hope to replicate the success of our own track records with a best-in-class investment firm that we are launching today.”