TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Axia Real Assets LP (“Axia”), an asset manager focused on global real estate and infrastructure, announced today the close of the Axia U.S. Grocery Net Lease Fund I (“AXGNL I”, “the Fund”). Pursuant to the Offering, the Fund issued an aggregate of approximately C$50 million of Fund units. The Fund units were offered to investors on a private placement basis through a syndicate of agents led by CIBC World Markets Inc. and which included Canaccord Genuity Corp., National Bank Financial Inc, Richardson Wealth Limited, Scotia Capital Inc., Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc., iA Private Wealth Inc., Raymond James Ltd., Desjardins Securities Inc., Echelon Wealth Partners Inc., INFOR Financial Group Inc. and Manulife Securities Incorporated. The Fund units were also offered privately.
CI Global Asset Management was an anchor investor in the fund, purchasing units representing 10% of the total outstanding units.
The Fund will employ a roll-up strategy of acquiring individual standalone real estate assets leased on long-term net leases to high-quality grocers across the United States. By prudently employing leverage, the Fund will have approximately $135 million to invest in grocery-tenanted real estate.
“In a world with low yields in bond markets and limited visibility on equity market returns, net lease real estate is a highly attractive alternative for a balanced portfolio,” said Joshua Varghese, Founding Partner at Axia. “We believe that real estate leased on long-term net leases to essential businesses that are well-positioned for the new economy will flourish due to their attractive and resilient cash flow profile.”
The Fund will be Axia’s first net lease vehicle focused on the grocery sector in the United States.
“The grocery industry continues to innovate, and position itself for success in a technology-driven world, making it an ideal tenant for a net lease strategy,” said Greg Stevenson, Founding Partner at Axia. “Our goal is to handpick these assets one-by-one to construct a portfolio that has more value than the sum of its parts. Our deep expertise in the sector puts us in a strong position to do this.”
Axia Real Assets is an independently operated asset manager focused on investing in and operating real estate and infrastructure assets globally. Axia serves investors around the world to provide a range of investment solutions that preserve and grow client capital throughout market cycles. Axia is a joint venture between its management and CI Financial Corp. (TSX: CIX; NYSE: CIXX).
