Senior property industry investors Alex Price and Steven Wright have launched a new real estate venture called Ashen Capital.
Price and Wright are former colleagues at Fiera Real Estate (UK) – previously Palmer Capital Partners – where they worked together for 15 years as chief executive and head of corporate investments respectively.
Their new venture has been set up to bring private equity into the property sector, predominately by providing capital and management support to smaller UK asset management and/or development companies. Ashen will also seek to fund the purchase of property assets, on a selective basis, where value can be added through active management.
The business has been seeded with a substantial initial investment from the management team as well as backing from a network of high net worth investors, who will invest alongside Ashen on selected opportunities.
Price said: “Ashen’s mission is to help grow smaller property businesses by providing three separate strands of support: management expertise; working capital and access to an institutional investor base. The team will focus on the UK residential sector but will also look at commercial property in London and the South East. We think market timing is good, especially in London and the South East of England, given strong rental growth prospects and the store of wealth it provides to international investors.”
Wright added: “UK residential property is the deepest, most liquid and active property sector in the UK, but despite this it remains fragmented with an opportunity to professionalise across various parts of the sector. We have a unique track record, built over 20 years, that makes us an ideal strategic partner for real estate businesses seeking to accelerate growth.”
