Pat Gunne’s 3RE Capital Ventures has formed a joint venture with fund manager Aermont to invest around £700M in the London office market, React News reported.

Having been largely out of the market since the €1.3B sale of Green REIT to Henderson Park in 2019, Gunne has secured around £350M of equity from the European private equity firm, which is expected to be matched with the same amount of debt.

The two partners are looking to exploit London’s troubled commercial real estate sector and are expected to focus on assets suitable to be repositioned as Grade A spaces that are operationally intensive and have strong environmental credentials.

The venture will look at direct purchases and entering partnerships with existing owners to help unlock project redevelopments and create value.

Over a year ago, 3RE appointed CBRE to raise capital for the venture and brought Stephen Hubbard, CBRE’s former UK chairman, on board as a senior adviser.

The company has recruited more senior executives, including Green Property co-founders Mike Tapp and Tom Leader, the latter as a consultant, while Michelle Ang, who spent more than seven years working across investment, asset management and investor relations at Green REIT before working for Ires and founded Accenver, has joined as operations and suitability director.

The company is expanding its management team ahead of any real estate acquisitions.

Tapp and Leader led the development of 7 and 8 St. James’s Square, at one time leased on the most expensive office rent in the world. Green Property later sold it to the Hong Kong-based Ho family in 2017 for £246M.

Gunne is a highly regarded real estate investor who, with Stephen Vernon, launched Ireland’s first REIT, Green REIT, in 2013 before selling to Henderson Park. The pair spearheaded several major transactions in the Irish market, including the €950M sale of the Blanchardstown Centre shopping mall to Blackstone in 2016. That scheme is up for sale again at a major discount.