Daniel Rigny doesn\u2019t like to do things in small ways. In July, the first deal he struck on behalf of the firm he founded last year, TwentyTwo Real Estate, weighed in at a portly \u20ac1 billion.<\/p>\n
In an exclusive interview in the wake of that transaction, French-born Rigny, 43, has unveiled to PERE his plans to build TwentyTwo Real Estate into an integrated Western Europe real estate company providing investment management, asset management, property management and brokerage services. However, before revealing news of a corporate transaction to that end, the real estate dealmaker makes it plain how he always has harbored an ambition to run his own platform.<\/p>\n
Rigny left Deutsche Bank\u2019s RREEF Real Estate, where he was co-head of opportunistic funds in Europe, in 2007 in order to join Perella Weinberg Partners alongside L\u00e9on Bressler. He did so with the idea that he perhaps could lead investments in Europe. However, he said his evolving ambitions were better suited elsewhere, hence his decision to leave last year to start his own company.<\/p>\n
The first step in building TwentyTwo Real Estate into a sizeable operation has been to acquire the Selec portfolio of 7,600 residential units let to French power company EDF. Secondly, PERE can reveal that the firm also has acquired a 40 percent stake in Financiere Scaprim. That Paris-based company, which employs some 140 people in 18 offices, manages around \u20ac6 billion of properties and sold roughly 10,000 residential units over the last 10 years, making it one of the busiest in the country.<\/p>\n
Rigny described Financiere Scaprim as being \u201cprobably the best residential asset manager in France\u201d \u2013 understandable perhaps as it was Rigny that originally set the company while at Deutsche Bank in order to help manage the EDF portfolio. He explained how Deutsche Bank\u2019s RREEF acquired the Selec portfolio from EDF in 2000 and how French private equity firm LBO France acquired a 54 percent stake in 2006, when there were more than 10,000 assets.<\/p>\n
The Selec deal turned out to be a good one for all involved. Indeed, EDF took on a well-structured master lease that afforded investors with stable income.<\/p>\n
Last year, TwentyTwo Real Estate began negotiating with Deutsche Bank and LBO France to buy the Selec portfolio, as well as a stake in the newly independent management of Financiere Scaprim. Rigny\u2019s new firm wound up with the portfolio and a 40 percent shareholding in the property management company.<\/p>\n
To beef up various parts of the Financiere Scaprim business, some key hires have been made. For example, it has hired Philippe Couturier to become managing director in charge of asset management. He previously built up Constructa Group\u2019s asset management arm from \u20ac200 million to \u20ac7.5 billion in assets under management within nine years.<\/p>\n
However, Rigny said the investment in the Selec portfolio and Financiere Scaprim is only part of an \u201cambitious mission\u201d to build TwentyTwo Real Estate \u2013 so named because 22 is a lucky number in his family \u2013 into an integrated pan-European real estate business, which eventually could be rolled out beyond France to the UK, Spain and Germany. Indeed, it already is looking to establish an operation in Spain, where it is keen to make hires.<\/p>\n
Indeed, in a second key hire, Christophe Kuhbier, who spent five years with Rigny at Perella Weinberg, has joined as a director of TwentyTwo Real Estate. He will focus on building investment management services across Europe.<\/p>\n
With TwentyTwo Real Estate being a new firm, the capital for the Selec deal was organized via a special purpose vehicle called Powerhouse France. It came from high-net-worth clients of France\u2019s Massena Partners and funds advised by Farallon Capital Management, which is a San Francisco-based global investment manager that manages around $19 billion in discretionary equity capital.<\/p>\n
Rigny noted that his firm is contemplating various ways to structure future acquisitions. \u201cSourcing the right type of capital for the right opportunity is essential,\u201d he said. While future large transactions may be arranged on behalf of select clients on an ad hoc basis, much like the Selec deal, one option for medium-sized deals would be to launch country-specific funds or, alternatively, a pan-Europe discretionary fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor certain opportunities, we\u2019d like our pool of capital to be as permanent and flexible as possible,\u201d said Rigny. \u201cThat is a challenging objective in itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the ambition is to create and grow a Western European real estate business with an \u201cintegrated full-service model\u201d that is run with a \u201csmall, nimble\u201d management team. \u201cWe will grow it as long as the management\u00a0team and I have an impact on every transaction and assignment that we undertake for clients,\u201d Rigny said. He wouldn\u2019t put a number on it, but he added: \u201cIt would be pretty big \u2013 we started with a pretty big transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n