The Italian arm of US investor and developer Hines is considering another M&A operation following the takeover earlier this year of Prima, according to chief executive Manfredi Catella. He was speaking to PropertyEU during the Expo Italia Real Estate fair held in Milan on Tuesday.

'We are selectively looking at potential candidates for another acquisition or a merger of our fund management arm,' Catella said, adding that the interested parties rank in the list of the top Italian fund managers. 'Of course,' he added, 'the operation needs to make sense from a business point of view, we are not seeking growth just for the sake of it.'

In March, Hines took over the real estate fund management arm of Prima adding another EUR 0.5 bn of assets to its fund management platform. Prima Sgr, which was created in 2009 as a partnership between private equity firm Clessidra and bank Monte Paschi di Siena, manages the MHREC (Monte Paschi Hines Real Estate Crescita) investment vehicle and the Oro real estate fund.

Hines received the green light from Banca D'Italia for the launch of its fund management business in 2009 and currently manages around EUR 3 bn in assets across eight funds.

The move by Hines is another sign of the consolidation wave sweeping the Italian fund management industry, which earlier this year saw the merger of Fimit and First Atlantic. A number of fund managers including Hines and Prelios continue to look for new acquisitions in order to strengthen their management platforms. 'Competition for institutional investors' equity remains strong in the industry,' Catella said. 'Fund managers know that only the most qualified ones will be in a position to ride out the storm, and therefore will continue to seek growth.'

Hines Italia represents a partnership between the US group and the Catella family, active in Italy since 1973 through their real estate unit, Coima.