European real estate investment manager Valad has acquired 49% of the equity in European Commercial Real Estate Limited (ECREL) with two places on the board alongside the original investors, who hold 51% of the equity.

Valad has also completed the EUR 200 mln refinancing of ECREL, having negotiated a new financing package with Lloyds Banking Group.

In April 2010, Valad secured a five-year mandate of ECREL, to provide investment management services for the mixed commercial portfolio, currently comprising 48 properties spread across the Nordics, Germany, and the Netherlands.

'Valad took on the investment management of ECREL with a clear mandate from both the investors and the senior lender to tidy up the portfolio accounts, reporting, tenant management and to build sustainable value in the portfolio,' said Marty McCarthy, Chief Executive Officer for Valad Europe.

Valad has five offices in Germany, six offices in the Nordics and one in the Netherlands, besides its European headquarters in London. The company's European investment management business encompasses 15 funds with EUR 5 bn in assets at year-end 2010. In August, shareholders of the Sydney-listed company overwhelmingly approved the takeover by US private equity giant Blackstone that valued Valad at roughly A$800 mln (EUR 580 mln).