FRANCE - La Française AM launches the first OPCI sharia compliant in France

www.property-magazine.eu - La Française AM has created the first Sharia compliant OPCI (collective real estate vehicle with simplified investment rules with leverage) dedicated to institutional investors, including one of the largest and leading Islamic corporate and investment banks in the world, based in Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti bank prefers not to disclose its name as most of its global investment activities are done in low profile. The newly introduced Sharia compliant structured OPCI vehicle, considered the first of its kind in France, is the chosen vehicle to lodge the office building located 91, boulevard Saint Michel, Paris 5e. The building was purchased jointly with the Kuwaiti bank. The office building is leased to France Telecom, a leading telecommunications operator, within a 10-year lease contract. The building was sold by Foncière des Régions for roughly €46 Million. The acquisition was partially leveraged by way of a Murabaha loan (a Sharia compliant loan facility structure that is primarily comprised of principal plus a fixed profit margin) with non-interest bearing outlay. (source)

EUROPE - European woe for SEREF

The place not to be if you were investing in a Shari’ah compliant Real Estate Investment Trust over the last few years was mainland Europe, as the $6.3m Solidarity European Real Estate fund aptly shows.

SEREF is a fund of funds that invests in other property funds as well as having the facility to invest directly in real estate. (source)