In late 2011 and early 2012, the fragile green shoots of recovery began to peek out from the barren blasted heath of the crisis-blown financial markets. Market activity was spurred by a rare confluence of secular trends, which included the strategic imperative of European financial institutions to deleverage and divest assets in order to improve their regulatory capital, leverage and liquidity ratios, a phenomenon that has been described elsewhere in this book. Markets were also impacted by the liquidity provided by pension and investment funds throughout the world, which have been particularly interested in prime commercial real estate (CRE) assets in major European cities. Whilst investment in European CRE has long been regarded as a relative value play for many global investors, North American interest in European CRE has, in particular, proven to be an effective counterweight to the traditional interest of European investors in US CRE opportunities.

Originally published in Sweet & Maxwell - November, 2016.