Patria Investimentos has returned to acquisitions to expand its real estate business , announcing on Thursday, December 11th, the acquisition of RBR Asset 's listed funds division .
The transaction, whose financial terms were not disclosed, involves the transfer of 12 real estate investment trusts ( REITs ), adding approximately R$ 8 billion in assets under management (AuM) to Patria's total assets under management ( AuM ), out of the R$ 12 billion that RBR holds.
Following the transaction, Patria 's real estate division will have R$ 38 billion in assets under management (AuM) , bringing the total assets under management to R$ 272 billion, strengthening its offering and consolidating its position as the largest manager of real estate investment trusts (FIIs) in Brazil.
“Having a leadership position has always been a concern for us, not only for the benefit to the shareholder, but also in terms of market competition and survival,” says Rodrigo Abbud, partner and head of real estate at Patria in Brazil, to NeoFeed . “We always understood that we needed to be big to be on the radar of major distributors, tenants, and partners.”
The agreement foresees the splitting of RBR, with Patria incorporating the part of the asset manager that administers these 12 funds, without any transfer of personnel. The expectation is that the process will take about 30 days, since it does not require approval from the Administrative Council for Economic Defense ( Cade ).
The talks began two months ago, in a different format than what RBR had sought in the past when it aimed to acquire a strategic partner. At the time, Patria was among the interested parties, as were Vinci and SPX , as revealed by NeoFeed at the time, but RBR abandoned the process after receiving proposals that did not satisfy them.
Abbud says that RBR's portfolio complements Patria 's offering , which consists of 20 listed funds, mainly in the credit sector, a smaller area for the asset manager until now. The firm has 14 real estate funds and six paper funds, totaling net assets of R$ 6.1 billion. Approximately 60% of RBR's portfolio is made up of paper funds.
“Credit has always been an internal issue, because we had a large concentration in real estate,” says Abbud. “With this volume from RBR, the imbalance decreases. From R$ 38 billion, we now have about 34% in mortgage lending.”
With the funds in hand, Patria intends to unite structures with similar strategies, as is happening with Patria Log (HGLG11), which aims to... Incorporate LVBI11 and acquire the funds of PATL11. The idea is not to have a shelf with 32 funds . "We see great synergies and the capacity to generate good vehicles, large vehicles, in different sectors," says Abbud.
For RBR, the operation represents adaptation to the reality of the REIT market , while maintaining independence, a priority for the firm when it was seeking a strategic partner.
“The industry has changed a lot, and the future lies in a few large funds, as is the case with REITs in the United States,” says Ricardo Almendra , founder and CEO of RBR Asset . “We have been approached quite a bit in the last five years to sell the company, but we have always wanted to remain independent.”
Now, with R$4 billion under management — R$3 billion in real estate and R$1 billion in infrastructure — RBR is strengthening its balance sheet, investing in people and putting its own capital into new funds. "With the sale, we will have the liquidity to invest as partners in the funds," says Almendra .
According to him, the firm should focus on funds for institutional and private clients , but the agreement with Patria does not impose restrictions if it wants to have listed funds again.
Among RBR's recent operations is a logistics development fund with Itaú Asset for two warehouses in São Paulo. The firm also raised a credit fund of R$ 500 million, with plans to raise another R$ 300 million, in addition to negotiating the purchase of eight multifamily buildings in the United States .
Prior to this sale, RBR had already negotiated the sale of logistics assets — approximately 250,000 square meters of leased warehouses and another 200,000 square meters in the process of being delivered — to the XPLG11 fund, managed by XP Asset , in June.
Patria has been betting on M&As to grow. This year, it acquired Vectis Gestão de Recursos and Genial's FII unit , a transaction that added R$ 2.5 billion. Previously, it bought VBI Real Estate and Credit Suisse Hedging Griffo .
When it incorporated Genial's funds, Abbud stated that there was no need for new acquisitions. But the possibility of absorbing part of RBR's portfolio prevailed. This time, however, purchases are expected to be paused.
“We need to focus on organic growth and getting our house in order. We don’t see other asset management firms of this size on the market to acquire,” Abbud concludes.
RBR received advisory services from Santander .
