LeadCrest Capital Partners, a fund like no other

Over the past few days, LeadCrest Capital Partners has made a major acquisition in Italy, where Europe's first investment fund dedicated exclusively to sale & leaseback and build-to-suit transactions has established a reputation for itself.

As detailed by Business Immo on September 15, via an Italian real estate fund fully subscribed by LeadCrest and managed by Polis SGR, it has acquired a portfolio of Leroy Merlin stores for €125 million fromAdeo, a well-known partner... And with good reason: this is the third transaction concluded by the world's third-largest consumer goods group for DIY and home decoration, owner of the Leroy Merlin brand. In 2023 and 2024, the investment fund concluded two partnerships with Tecnomat, Adeo's Italian retailer.

"Italy and the DIY sector remain at the heart of LeadCrest's strategy, as we continue to expand our presence while pursuing selective growth opportunities across Europe", says Georges Asmar, Portfolio Manager of the investment fund, which has offices in Luxembourg and Paris.

To date, LeadCrest Capital Partners has already tackled several markets across all asset classes, with a particular focus on the consumer goods, industrial, healthcare and education sectors. From Poland to Portugal, where it signed an XXL deal at the beginning of the year with the acquisition of a 49% stake in Alcapredial, the real estate arm of the Les Mousquetaires group in Portugal - it had 260 stores with a combined gross value of around €500 million.

France is another target. This is illustrated by the recent signing of a portfolio of 13 Ehpads withemeis for €120 million; a partnership which, according to Jean-François Bost, Head of Investments France & Benelux, "perfectly illustrates our strategy of building up portfolios of essential, high-quality assets, leased by first-rate operators with whom we share the same value-creation objectives, particularly in terms of ESG".