Castleforge Partners, a leading UK-based real estate fund manager, today announced the final close of its third value-add commercial real estate fund at over £270m.

Castleforge Partners III (“CFP III” or the “Fund”) successfully exceeded its predecessor by 15%, despite challenging fundraising conditions created by Brexit uncertainty and the COVID-19 outbreak.

Castleforge Partners has further diversified its investor base, securing new commitments from institutional investors in North America, Europe and Latin America including a private pension fund, endowment, foundation and family offices.

The Fund also received strong support from existing investors, with approximately 60% of the capital from long-standing partners. This combination of investors shows confidence in Castleforge Partners’ ability to outperform in the current market environment.

Castleforge Partners is a private equity real estate business that was established in 2010 and has grown to a team of over 70 professionals (incorporating their London headquartered core team and in-house operating platforms clustered around the asset base).

Since inception, Castleforge has closed 40 deals and successfully realized 17. Research remains a central tenet of the investment strategy and the output informs asset selection and thematic focus.

This has helped to guide Castleforge away from troubled sectors and built exposure to themes that benefit from structural growth tailwinds. Driven by research, Castleforge has placed increasing emphasis on operational improvement to supplement traditional value creation initiatives.

This has led to the creation of in-house operating platforms which enhance occupational experience to match evolving end-user demand, while driving yield and managing operational risk. The platform is establishing considerable scale in various high growth asset-classes and has begun to expand the asset base into continental Europe.

Commenting on the Fund closing, Brandon Hollihan, Co-Founder of Castleforge Partners, said: “We are greatly appreciative of our investors, old and new, for their support and partnership. It is an exciting time for Castleforge Partners, and we believe we are well positioned to access new opportunities and grow our business, whilst also supporting the communities in which we invest.”

Atlantic-Pacific Capital served as the exclusive global placement agent.

Alex Hurst, Partner at Atlantic-Pacific, said: “We are pleased to close CFP III with commitments in excess of the predecessor vehicle despite headwinds in the capital markets resulting from a trilogy of events incorporating Brexit, a snap election and a global pandemic. We have enjoyed the second collaboration with Castleforge Partners and expect their focus on risk management and the unremitting evolution of their platform will serve investors well.”