Robin Marriott

GIMV, Belgium’s largest private equity firm, and Dexia Bank have launched a €100m infrastructure and real estate fund.

The European property fund manager is seeking to raise more than €300 million ($400 million) for Italian Opportunities II less than a year after launching its first Italian fund.

J.E. Robert Companies and co- fund manager Alfa Capital Partners has attracted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as an investor.

The US property fund manager has announced the acquisition of a Paris office block, which it plans to refurbish by the summer of 2009.

Aberdeen Property Investors, the Sweden based property division of Aberdeen Asset Management, joins the rush into Russia by opening an office in St Petersburg and raising its inaugural Russia fund.

The investment vehicle of Qatari property investment fund Three Delta has upped its stake in Sainsburys.

The Dutch institutional real estate manager is departing from its usual strategy to meet investor demands for diversification and higher returns.

The Wall Street bank’s real estate arm is reportedly buying 10 European hotels as it ramps up exposure to the global hospitality sector.

The German Aktiv Property Fund is the second vehicle launched in the past six months by quoted UK and European property fund Teesland iOG, which launched its Nordic Aktiv fund last November.

The London-based firm has closed its largest fund so far after receiving commitments of nearly €900 million from a range of US and European investors.