Created in 2003, Azora is a leading private equity manager focused on real assets, headquartered in Spain and with circa €10bn AUM across Europe and the US. Azora has delivered 19% net IRRs and 2.1 x MOIC on its divested vehicles. Azora manages the complete investment cycle, from acquisition, restructuring, management, repositioning and eventually the sale of the assets. Azora is a pioneer in identifying new investment opportunities in untapped markets, where there is limited institutional capital deployed but which benefit from megatrend headwinds. In addition, Azora has a strong focus on asset classes with a high operational component and value-add potential. Azora specialises in different types of assets: residential, hotels, logistics, offices, senior homes and renewable energy, and is promoting new investment lines in leisure, data centres and infrastructure. Azora pioneered the rented residential segment in Spain, launching its first BTR vehicle in 2003 and is currently managing the largest portfolio of purpose-built rented residential assets in Spain, with circa 15,000 units under management. Azora has also pioneered other social-linked segments of the living space including student housing (where it built out the largest student housing portfolio in Continental Europe, RESA) and senior living (currently investing in Spain through Adriano Care). Through its US investee (Azora Exan), Azora offers its investors the possibility of investing in the most powerful, stable and legally secure economy in the world, not only in the creation and management of office, logistics and retail real estate assets, but also in other value-added activities in which Azora has decades of proven experience.
Performance verification
Azora has delivered 19% net IRRs and 2.1 x MOIC on its divested vehicles.
Sector forecasts
HOTELS:
Azora’s strategy in hospitality is to capitalise on the global tourism megatrend, with a particular focus on the large vacation lodging and leisure industry. This will be achieved through value-added and opportunistic investments across Europe in lodging and other alternative leisure investments located in cities, rural areas, mountains, and coastal locations (the ‘target location’). The target investments will be undercapitalised or inadequately managed hotel, leisure, and lodging opportunities where active management initiatives and tactical repositioning capabilities are required to achieve superior returns.
LOGISTICS:
Logistics is benefitting from e-commerce penetration as well as the continued urbanisation trend. This increases the demand for logistics space and assets which are fit for purpose and well located, especially true in last-mile logistics due to low availability of land in first-ring locations and a supply/demand inbalance, generating rent growth. At Azora we are investing in this segment through two vehicles, with a granular aggregation strategy approach with a focus on modern and newly built assets.
OFFICE:
Offices will continue to be a key asset class. However, office tenants are changing what they require from their offices and a number of current assets will not be fit for purpose as new configurations are required and ESG requirements continue to grow in importance. At Azora we are adapting to the evolving needs of tenants by focusing on prime locations and on new development or the refurbishment of existing assets.
RESIDENTIAL:
Over the past years, we have seen a growing shift across Europe towards rental as opposed to outright buying of residential assets. This has come about due to generational changes and also due to growing house prices. We see an acute shortage of high-quality affordable rental housing and believe the supply/ demand inbalance will continue to provide strong fundamental support to the sector over the medium term.
Azora continues to believe that the PRS sector is an attractive segment in which to invest, both through the development of new buildings to be rented or through the acquisition of existing purpose-built assets.
SENIOR HOMES:
The ageing population megatrend offers huge growth potential particularly in Spain. Aiming at the WHO target, Spain needs more than 70,000 beds. The demographic evolution will increase this deficit by another 11,000 beds per year, therefore driving the need for public and private investments in the sector, such as the investments realised by Adriano Care, within this key sector of our care infrastructure. Adriano Care aims to contribute to the solution to the demographic challenge as well as to improve the quality of the services provided to the elderly.
RENEWABLE ENERGY:
The continued electrification of the economy, along with the reduction of other technologies, provides a supportive power demand in the medium term for renewable energy.
Given the significant reduction in renewable generation costs, investment in this type of energy has become an appealing investment theme, independent of subsidies, in order to obtain attractive returns.
Through our fund, European Climate Solutions, we invest in European lower-middle market companies positioned to lead growth in relation to climate change and that offer innovative but proven decarbonisation solutions for real assets.
Investment principles & strategy
Our investment decisions are backed by an experienced team which allows us to cover the whole investment cycle, while focusing on megatrends which last throughout more than one cycle.
Strategy Selection
- Pioneers in identifying new investment opportunities in untapped markets but with potential to be institutionalised.
- Asset classes which will benefit from long-term megatrend headwinds, across cycles and where an active value-add can take place.
- Focus on operationally intense/complex asset classes.
Execution Capacities
- Large and senior team, organised by investment verticals and with proven experience in complex investments and restructuring transactions.
- In-house technical team (leading all asset repositionings) and finance team, with leading relationships with the key local and international finance providers.
Active Asset Management
- Multidisciplinary professional team with relevant real estate experience.
- Proven capacity to add value through active asset management and in heavily operational businesses.
- Azora has a specific circa 160-person team focused on real estate property management and servicing, which currently manages more than 15,000 residential units in Spain.
Corporate Governance
- Azora has the highest standards of corporate governance and responsible investments based on integrity, transparency and excellence.
- Strong alignment with our investors through Azora’s co-investment in every different vehicle, and the different remuneration schemes.
Strategic corporate development
Azora is a leading independent manager of real assets. We invest leveraging our broad in-house platform (circa 300 employees) which encompasses the sourcing, origination and execution of investments as well as the asset and property management of assets. In addition, we benefit from highly experienced in-house teams on the financing, structuring, compliance and legal sides.
We have invested on a pan-European basis in a number of key verticals (including residential, hospitality and offices) and are currently expanding our network of preferred partners to cover regions where we do not have a local presence. In addition, we are actively expanding our presence in the US market, through Azora Exan, Azora’s subsidiary.
Over the next five years we expect to double our assets under management and to continue entering new verticals and new geographies, with the support of both new and existing investors.
