The deal boosts the London-based multi-family office's property investment capabilities as well as its presence in Europe.

Multi-family office LJ Partnership has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Pradera, a fund and asset manager of shopping centres and retail parks in the UK and Europe.

LJ Partnership advises a property portfolio of around $4 billion. Altogether, it looks after more than $10 billion of assets for over 500 clients from its offices in London, Maidenhead, Isle of Man, Lisbon, Geneva, Neuchatel (Switzerland), Miami and Hong Kong. 

Pradera, which was founded in 1999, runs a €2.3 billion ($2.6 billion) portfolio comprising over 50 shopping centres and retail parks in the UK, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Turkey. 

The firm's other shareholders include its senior management team, who will retain full control of business strategy and day-to-day operations. Meanwhile, two senior directors from LJ Partnership will join the Pradera board. They were not identified.

“This collaboration comes at a time that LJ Partnership is enjoying rapid growth. It will broaden and deepen our European platform, enhancing our local presence in major European markets and enable us to bring a broader range of investment opportunities to the select group of individuals and families that we represent,” Andrew Williams, chief executive of LJ Partnership, said in a statement.

The deal, details of which were not disclosed, is set to complete shortly. It continues what has been a busy period for LJ Partnership. Earlier this month, Hong Kong-based real estate investment group Peterson Group acquired a 20 per cent stake in the firm in a deal that will see both parties work together to invest in residential, commercial and hospitality property assets in Europe and Asia. In February, LJ Partnership formed a joint venture with global development consultant and philanthropist Roberta Annan to provide investment expertise to the African market.