CCM SICAV II: A Fund for Co-Ownership of Westfield Černý Most

The Upvest investment group, together with the RSJ financial group, established the fund CCM SICAV II, which is intended to increase their stake in the Černý Most shopping center (recently renamed Westfield Černý Most). This is a structure that is not commonly seen on the Czech market on this scale. How does it work, and what does it offer investors who want to invest in a large real estate asset without having millions in their checking account?

Ownership Structure and the Fund

Through the older CCM SICAV fund, the Upvest and RSJ consortium holds a 25% stake in the mall, which it acquired in the fourth quarter of 2024. The majority owner and manager remains Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which is responsible for both the operation and development of the property—including the ongoing expansion by 9,100 m², after which the center’s total leasable area will increase to 94,100 m².

The new CCM SICAV II fund targets institutional capital and qualified investors with a minimum investment of 1 million CZK, distributed through Komerční banka. The fund is on par with the previous CCM SICAV, and Upvest and RSJ plan to launch two more funds (CCM SICAV III and IV) in 2026 to exercise the remaining call options and reach a total share of 40–49%. Investors purchase shares at current value and can expect annual cash flow distributions; the planned exit is around the years 2030–2031.

How Upvest Structures Its Transactions

The company takes the opposite approach to traditional funds, which first raise capital and then look for places to invest it. Upvest, on the other hand, first identifies a specific opportunity, sets up the financing structure (senior debt, mezzanine, or equity, as appropriate), and only then raises capital specifically for that transaction—so investors know exactly what they’re getting into from the start.

Investment amounts vary considerably:

typical transactions range from approximately 150,000 CZK
standard debt transactions starting at 5,000 CZK

Upvest typically enters residential projects at a stage when the developer already has a zoning decision but does not yet meet the conditions for bank financing—or it helps free up capital for the developer once the developer has secured sufficient pre-sales.

Relationship with Banks

Upvest positions itself as a complement to bank financing, not a replacement—according to the company, a bank loan will always be cheaper than private capital. Despite Komerční banka’s acquisition of a stake in the platform, Upvest maintains relationships with banks across the Czech Republic and adapts its transaction structure to accommodate any combination of capital. Since 2017, the company has channeled over 6.7 billion CZKinto projects; the total value of funded projects amounts to CZK 50 billion.

Source: ThePrime.cz