Admar fund to invest €100 million
An asset management company led by entrepreneur João Cota Dias has launched a new fund which aims to net €100 million from Portuguese and overseas investors.
It will be the second venture capital fund from Admar which has been christened the Golden Estate FCR and aims to attract the €100 million with some of he first investors so far being Golden Visa holders.
“This fund is an important step in our growth and investment strategy and reinforces our commitment to drive economic growth in Portugal and overseas, as well as offering national and overseas investors (the chance to invest) in high-quality projects with the potential to offer a healthy return”, said João Cota Dias in an interview with the business daily Negócios.
The new fund has kicked off with 16 investors of various nationalities — four of which are in the process of obtaining Authorisations of Residency for Investment (ARI) or Golden Visas which are eligible for applicants who invest in investment funds.
Venture Capital should, according to ruling socialist party MPs, be kept on as an investment option under the Golden Visa regime. Most of the options were scrapped by the government when it announced its ‘More Housing’ package in February.
Under this investment option, overseas citizens are eligible for Golden Visas when they acquire investment fund units from these VC companies equal to or above €500,000.
The Golden Estate FCR is looking at investment opportunities in both luxury real estate and renewables as well as logistics, offices and tourism. The goal is to allocate 75% of the investment in Portugal and 25% in overseas investments.
The VC has already invested assets in the past including in the former Portuguese Football Federation building on Rua Alexandre Herculano in Lisbon where it is building a 77 room hotel with shop units and parking, and a solar energy project in Poland in partnership with Jerónimo Martins.
With a 10-year investment timeline, the annual yield is expected to be around 15%. This fund will be open to more investors, but will also more conservative in terms of yield offer than the group’s first fund which has a 15-year timeline and an expected yield of 20%.