Login

EQT shuts down US multifamily fund as it ramps up industrial purchases

Swedish investment giant rebrands global real estate operations
EQT's largest U.S. apartment holding is the 562-unit Astrid in Bethesda, Maryland. (CoStar)
EQT's largest U.S. apartment holding is the 562-unit Astrid in Bethesda, Maryland. (CoStar)
CoStar News
January 28, 2025 | 10:20 P.M.

Swedish investment giant EQT has shut down its U.S. multifamily fund amid trouble raising cash.

The move is part of a larger rebranding of the firm’s real estate operations, according to EQT’s annual report and earnings call. Under the rebranding, EQT has also decided not to pursue any additional office or life sciences properties “for the time being.”

In the United States, EQT owns 34 multifamily properties totaling about 9,950 units, according to CoStar data. It has not acquired any new apartments since late 2022. More recently, it has focused almost all of its attention on U.S. logistics properties.

Since the start of 2024, EQT has been the most active buyer of U.S. industrial properties, having spent more than $4.4 billion, according to CoStar data.

article
6 Min Read
October 24, 2024 04:35 PM
The major industrial owner has ratcheted up investing in 2024 as its global head explains why the commercial real estate industry is deploying more capital.
Andria Cheng
Andria Cheng

Social

“In 2024, an initiative related to the U.S. Multifamily Fund was discontinued following a challenging fundraising market,” Kim Henriksson, the company’s chief financial officer, said on the earnings call. The company took a roughly $83.5 million loss on the move, Henriksson added.

“Regarding real estate, we have reduced the number of employees in the U.S. following the decision to discontinue the initiative related to the U.S. Multifamily Fund and thus to optimize team size,” he said without disclosing numbers.

Gustav Segerberg, the company’s head of business development, addressed the fundraising environment.

“2024 was a continued tough fundraising year and fundraising timelines remained extended,” Segerberg said. “We do not expect any significant improvement in the overall fundraising market during 2025 and our expectation is that it will take until 2027 before we are back at the same fundraising levels as we saw in 2021.”

However, he added that EQT has been gaining market share, and the firm expects to grow its share of funds being allocated.

Going forward, the firm’s real estate arm, EQT Exeter, will operate under the EQT Real Estate brand and will focus primarily on industrial real estate, the firm said.

Henry Steinberg was named global head of EQT Real Estate in September after Ward Fitzgerald decided to step down. Fitzgerald helped establish the firm 20 years ago.

EQT declined to provide comment to CoStar News beyond the earnings call and year-end report.

IN THIS ARTICLE