OVERVIEW
At one time, the private equity and private equity real estate industries did not have much in common, save a name, a similar limited partnership structure and occasionally, an office. Today private real estate firms are increasingly targeting assets such as hotels and real estate operating companies that are equally coveted by their private equity brethren; they are raising huge pools of capital that rival the LBO funds of just a few years ago; and they are moving even more quickly than their private equity counterparts, into the world’s emerging economies.

As the amount of money pouring into alternative assets continues to grow, private equity real estate practitioners are confronting some of the same challenges seen in the broader private equity industry. With markets in the US and Western Europe facing severe competition for assets, property investors are looking further and further abroad to find profitable investment opportunities.

One are they are increasingly targeting is Eastern Europe, particularly those countries that have not yet joined the European Union. In the more established markets of Europe, particularly the UK and Germany, attention is being focused on the public markets, specifically what impact the introduction of real estate investment trusts will have on the pan-European real estate sector.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview – Growing Global
Expert commentary – Trends and opportunities in the East
The Middle East – Desert bloom
Expert commentary – The REIT advantage
Fundraising roundup – Money talks
Profile: Sam Zell – The Z-factor
Q&A – James Quille, CEO, Macquarie Global Property Advisors