Investment manager Schroders has been awarded the management contract for Invista Foundation Property Trust's £331 mln (EUR 378 mln) portfolio.

Separately, UK asset manager Picton Property has withdrawn its offer proposal to acquire the trust. Picton said it was breaking off the merger talks as it had been unable to agree a proposal which the IFPT board was willing to recommend to its shareholders

IFPT’s move to replace Invista REIM with Schroders to manage its properties was conditional on a merger with Picton not going ahead. Schroders will be paid a management fee of 1.1% per annum of IFPT's net asset value. IFPT said the new fee basis will result in annual cost savings of £1.8 mln.

The board of the Invista foundation gave notice to Invista REIM in March this year that it was seeking to hire a new manager as Invista REIM is in the process of winding down.

Invista REIM demerged from HBOS and listed on London's junior AIM market in 2006. At end-June 2010 the company managed some EUR 6 bn of property assets, primarily for HBOS.

But Lloyd Banking Group, which now owns HBOS, announced in October 2010 that it planned to transfer a EUR 2.7 bn fund management contract from Invista to its own investment asset manager, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership. The move prompted Invista REIM’s decision to sell all its assets and return the proceeds to shareholders.

In June this year Internos Real Investors was appointed to manage the sale of the EUR 487 mln portfolio owned by London-listed Invista European Real Estate Trust (IERET).

Invista Foundation Property Trust was launched in July 2004 as a closed-ended property investment company domiciled in Guernsey and listed on both the Channel Islands and London Stock Exchange. The company owns 57 assets spread across the main retail, office and industrial sectors.

Picton, in contrast to Invista REIM, is in growth mode. Picton Property Income changed its name from ING UK Real Estate Income Trust Limited on 1 June 2011.

Last year Picton acquired Rugby Estates Investment Trust, which owned 33 assets.

Picton, a closed-ended investment company listed on the London and Channel Islands stock exchanges, was established in 2005 to invest both directly and indirectly in commercial property across the UK. With a property portfolio of £426 mln, Picton will be managed by Picton Capital from January 2012 following the termination of a management contract with ING Real Estate Investment Management.