Real estate investor Taurus raises $157 mln for first discretionary fund

Private real estate firm Taurus Investment Holdings closed its first discretionary fund, Taurus U.S. Logistics Fund I, with $157 million of equity commitments, CEO Peter Merrigan told Buyouts.

Investors were mostly large family offices, “of which we have a fairly extensive network,” Merrigan said. “A lot of our capital comes from Europe and the Middle East. We also own our own broker-dealer, so we raise capital in the U.S. through that vehicle.”

Fundraising started in November and continued for four months. Taurus and its regular investors will also contribute capital to a sidecar vehicle, which Merrigan said will raise an additional $100 million alongside the main fund. Previously, the firm raised capital “on more of a deal-by-deal basis,” he said.

“This fund is targeted to do multi-tenant, what we would call Class B industrial projects in major markets,” Merrigan explained.

Taurus has already done “quite a few club deals on this basis before, and we decided to raise this discretionary fund to ramp up the program. … We’re trying to acquire assets below replacement cost and then move rents with shorter-term average lease terms, where we can renew tenants and improve the buildings and move them to market.”

Initial acquisitions will be financed by MetLife. Deals will typically include 60 percent to 65 percent bank or insurance company financing.

Based in Boston, Taurus acts as a GP sponsor of investments in commercial real estate, including multifamily residential, industrial, office and retail. The firm manages investments in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Germany. “We have one project in Greece, we’ve done several projects in Turkey, we have one that we’re working on in India, and we have one that we’re working on in Argentina,” Merrigan said.

Taurus’s portfolio amounts to 16 million square feet of real estate. The firm also owns some 4,000 acres in various stages of development. Earlier this month, Taurus closed on the acquisition of a 190-unit Class A apartment complex in Everett, Massachusetts, for $56 million, including about $22 million of equity.

Merrigan founded Taurus in 2002 with two partners, brothers from Germany, Lorenz and Guenther Riebling.

He said the firm intends to raise more funds like this one over the next several years: “We see a real demand for this kind of product from our investor base. We will also be open to institutional investors, but right now we primarily focus on large family offices.”

Action Item: Reach Peter Merrigan at 617-357-4440

Peter Merrigan, CEO of Taurus Investment Holdings. Photo courtesy of the firm.