L&G buys stake in Taurus to grow US real estate investment offering
Legal & General (L&G) has bought a stake in real estate private equity firm Taurus Investment Holdings and committed up to $200m (£154m) in seed capital to invest in multifamily developments.
Boston-based Taurus has expertise in the acquisition, development, financing, leasing, and selling of multifamily and industrial real estate assets across the US, and select global markets including Germany and the UK, totalling more than $11bn in value to date.
L&G said that the strategic partnership with Taurus accelerates its ambitions in the US, having launched its asset management business there in 2006 which now has $231.9bn of assets under management across public and private markets, including private credit and real estate.
The insurance and investment group said that multifamily is a “key growth market that continues to be one of the strongest performing real estate sectors in the US”.
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It cited data from the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries which showed that multifamily and industrial have grown to account for 63 per cent of institutional real estate portfolios, up from 34 per cent in 2000, and are the two strongest performing core sectors in the US over the last 20 years.
L&G said the partnership will help it meet its ambitions to build out a full-scale US real estate investment management capability.
“As one of the largest real estate markets in the world, the US represents a significant growth opportunity for Legal & General,” said Alexia Gottschalch, head of US real estate equity, private markets at L&G Asset Management.
“Our partnership with Taurus accelerates our ability to capitalise on this market and significantly scale our expertise and execution capabilities. Alongside Taurus, we can now seek to deliver large scale projects that address the increasing demand for quality housing and logistics infrastructure, with a focus on sustainability and innovative financing solutions.
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“Having joined L&G to build out our real estate investment management business, this marks an exciting moment in the growth for our private markets platform and US real estate ambitions. Benefitting from a highly experienced real estate team in the UK and US, alongside access to patient catalytic capital, we believe we are well placed to deliver against the longer-term structural trends in the US.”
L&G has already embarked on partnerships to boost its presence in the US development space, having previously unveiled a joint venture with US real estate developer Ancora.
The group said earlier this year that it is aiming to grow its private markets division to £85bn of assets under management by 2028.
