Greenman Open payouts remain frozen after near-€100m portfolio sale

Greenman Open, a €1.2 billion German supermarket property fund with 8,000 Irish investors, has sold an initial portfolio of seven properties to start meeting liabilities after it froze investor redemptions late last year following a spike in people looking for their money.

The fund is believed to have achieved close to €100 million from the sale of the initial portfolio, which Greenman confirmed it has sold to US asset manager PGIM.

However, the sale proceeds will be used to repay debt, including loans secured against the properties, and transaction-related costs.

Investors who made redemption requests as far back as late 2024 will have to wait for follow-on sales – including seven properties that are mainly expected to close in the first quarter of 2027 – before repayments start, according to Neil O’Keeffe, chief executive of Greenman Investments, which runs the fund.

O’Keeffe, a former corporate lawyer and funds industry specialist hired to lead the company earlier this year, said Greenman is also currently marketing another “large portfolio”, which will also be used to meet redemptions.

Greenman Open said in an investor update earlier this month that it does not expect to begin paying redemption requests before the second quarter of 2027. Requests will be dealt with in the order they were received.

The fund had €140 million of such requests outstanding as of early March. O’Keeffe said an updated figure will be provided when the fund publishes its 2025 annual report in the coming weeks. It previously apologised to investors for the audit of the report taking longer than expected to complete.

[ Property fund warns Irish investors of ‘knee-jerk’ redemption risk for €1.26bn portfolioOpens in new window ]

Greenman Open activated an official so-called redemption gate – or suspension – late last year, after being met by a spike in withdrawal requests in the third quarter.

Ordinarily, the fund – which is invested in more than 80 retail properties in Germany, leased to supermarket chains such as Aldi, Lidl, Edeka and Rewe – would have to honour an investor redemption request within six months of its receipt.

The suspension followed three developments: a move by the fund to preserve cash as it shifted to a new system for investors to buy and sell units of the fund; several investors piling in during the Covid-19 pandemic looking to cash in after a three-year lock-up, and, crucially, according to the firm, Aviva removing the fund from a key investment platform.

“We’re very mindful that [some investors] have been waiting over a year for their money,” said O’Keeffe. “But we’re equally mindful that it’s a European long-term investment fund, with underlying assets in real estate, and we’re working through a process precipitated by matters outside of our control.”

The €1.2 billion gross value of the fund includes about €500 million of borrowings. The underlying performance of the assets has remained strong. The seven properties that have been sold to PGIM have a rental occupancy rate of 96.4 per cent.

“Germany’s food-anchored retail sector continues to demonstrate strong and resilient performance, supported by secure, stable cash flows,” said Rory Morrison, head of core strategies and real estate in Europe for PGIM.

“This acquisition represents a rare opportunity for our investors to enter the German retail market through acquiring a widely diversified portfolio and capturing attractive income potential, supported by a strong and stable tenant base.”

Greenman Investments was set up in 2005 by Peter O’Reilly and Johnnie Wilkinson, both financial advisers.

O’Keeffe said he ultimately expects Greenman Open to be significantly smaller than its current size and to fit within a wider suite of exiting and pipeline group funds.