EPRA ReThink Conference 2026, Milan, September 8-10

A sector in crisis

Even the magnificent conference location, Milan’s historic Principe di Savoia hotel, couldn’t mask a depressed listed real estate sector in Europe at this year’s EPRA conference. Over three days at the beginning of September, participants could observe the almost existential crisis of the sector against the backdrop of an already challenged real estate market on the continent in general. An ever-shrinking number of listed companies, a lack of favorable regulation, the evident scale problem for many smaller firms and chatter about the expropriation of some of the continent’s largest public real estate firms made participants wonder whether listed real estate has any promising future in Europe.

The shrinkage of the European listed universe has continued again this year, with one of the largest European public real estate firms leaving the scene as Segro plc is currently in the process of being acquired by American logistics behemoth Prologis. The deal is the continuation of a years-long series of take-privates and delistings that has seen the number of European listed real estate companies steadily decline, with almost no significant REIT IPOs to fill the gaps left on the boards of European exchanges.

Several panels at the conference tried to address the issues challenging a sector on a possible path to insignificance. Many problems exist, from the lack of Europe-wide regulation and the absence of a common capital market to different tax regimes in each of the 27 member states (plus the UK). While it seems that industry and political leaders agree that the issues exist (!) and that Europe needs to address them urgently, audiences also agreed that, beyond lip service, actual change would likely not happen in the near future. Participants had to cling to the glimmer of hope that Europeans now at least seem to acknowledge the many self-inflicted challenges to their investment market.

Where is the money at?

However, it seemed that the lack of success of European listed real estate firms, and of the scene around them, went partly beyond capital markets and tax and legal infrastructure: a distinct point of discussion was missing throughout most of the conference’s panels and discussions – where and how to make money?

This question of how to actually make money was conspicuously absent for an investment conference, which had few panels on current opportunities or long-term investment trends. On a panel on what changes are needed within the sector, the audience of analysts and investors did at least agree that the European focus on narrowing the often-large discounts to companies’ NAVs has turned out to be a far inferior approach to the US focus on growing earnings. While some smaller REITs pitched their investment cases on the final day, a potentially even more interesting panel would have been one bringing together analysts and investors to discuss where they see opportunities, be they long or short in nature and/or time.

Europe vs. the US – a clash of (investing) cultures

At a panel on M&A for listed REITs, the difference in intellectual quality between the panelists’ approaches became particularly apparent. When the panelists were asked whether M&A makes sense for their companies, a healthcare REIT CFO made her point in long-winded sentences that combining two REITs typically results in economies of scale. What a breathtaking revelation. A Cohen & Steers portfolio manager argued in earnest that it would be better for management teams to try to block opportunistic takeovers, even if their companies’ shares traded lower as a result. That is understandable for someone watching his universe of listed companies shrink; however, this approach seems to run counter to shareholder interests in most cases.

In contrast to the sometimes intellectually shallow comments from the Europeans, Realty Income CEO Sumit Roy was focused and sharp, discussing M&A in terms of accretion to shareholder value, portfolio positioning, financing and deal structuring. The remarks of the CEO of one of America’s largest REITs (with significant investments in Europe) showed a depth of thinking a level above that of his European colleagues.

Finally, awareness of Europe’s self-made problems

Regulation (or the lack thereof) was a prominent subject of discussion at the conference. Enrico Letta, former Italian prime minister, made the case for deeper European integration, while Euronext CEO Stéphane Boujnah argued for the harmonization of financial infrastructure and legislation. Letta acknowledged that Europeans have recognized the issues facing their capital markets and business environment generally, but painted a pessimistic picture of the likelihood of real change. A week after the conference, however, Boujnah unveiled a proposal to merge Euronext and Deutsche Börse.

This lack of legislative integration, and of a clearer focus on investment culture, stands in the way of a European REIT renaissance anytime soon.

Talk about the planned expropriation of listed real estate companies in Germany’s capital, Berlin, was surprisingly muted – a political risk most people could not have imagined materializing even a couple of months ago. With the Left Party (Die Linke) winning the local election, the specter of expropriation once again hangs over Germany, one of Europe’s largest real estate markets. Not long ago, this would have been unthinkable for a large European economy, and it certainly hurts the case for bringing more real assets to public markets. Vonovia CEO Luka Mucic and Grainger plc CEO Helen Gordon made the case for the role listed residential companies can play, but given the huge political and societal challenges arising from the existential question of affordable housing, one might have expected more from them in presenting their companies as part of the solution rather than an obstacle.

A hopeful rumor amid some otherwise muted new activity

Still, there were some slivers of light on the horizon, though they surfaced more in side conversations than on the panels. Blackstone is rumored to be pressing ahead this fall with a Madrid Stock Exchange listing of Hotel Investment Partners (HIP), its €6bn portfolio of resorts and hotels in Southern Europe. As one of the very few bright spots in European real estate markets, a successful listing of this hotel portfolio would be a much-needed boost for a sector whose ever-shrinking roster of listed firms has left European exchanges with smaller market capitalization, fewer public real estate assets and declining quality of listed assets (and management teams). There was also chatter about one or two more IPOs this year, though no specific names were seriously discussed.

This year has already seen some minor new activity, with Swiss healthcare landlord Infracore SA going ahead with its IPO in July, successfully raising CHF 250m; it currently trades at a market cap of CHF 750m. In Norway, Magnora Data Center ASA, a spin-off from renewable energy developer Magnora ASA, was listed on Euronext Growth in Oslo. Though only a micro-cap, at around €150m, its shares have risen 16% since the spin-off, showing that there is indeed appetite for new and innovative listed real assets, albeit in what is currently the hottest sector.

On another note, a discussion on the sidelines of the conference with a representative of Merlin Properties focused on the Spanish diversified player’s push into data centers over the past few years. Perhaps one day Merlin will spin off its attractive data center exposure, currently hidden behind the conglomerate’s large office portfolio, and unlock shareholder value. Regardless, the example shows that legacy companies are indeed able to venture into new and attractive sectors.

The REIT is dead, long live the REIT

As gloomy as the European REIT scene might currently look, the REIT as a concept is far from dead in other parts of the world. Sure, the US REIT market has seen a lot of consolidation and a shrinking number of listed entities as well, but elsewhere the public real estate investment trust is seeing a renaissance.

Brazil, the world’s 11th-largest country by public REIT market cap, has seen its number of listings rise recently, and the country was added to the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global REITs index in 2024. The first addition was Hedge Brasil Shopping FII, which invests in retail malls around the country. Representatives from Hedge Investments, a São Paulo-based investment manager, made the case at the conference for investing in local REITs, citing forced inflows from index inclusion and a favorable rate backdrop, with inflation in the mid-4% range and rates at around 14%, as potential drivers of returns. The absence of capital gains tax for foreign investors strengthens the case further.

China’s local REIT ecosystem has recently been an impressive growth story. While the market remains quite opaque and hard to access for outside investors, the number of Chinese listed real estate funds has exploded from just nine in 2021 to almost 90 today on the Shanghai and Shenzhen boards.

China introduced its own REIT regime in 2021 with an initial focus on infrastructure assets. The range of REIT-eligible asset classes was gradually expanded, with the addition of retail and rental housing assets in 2023/2024 and of offices, commercial complexes and hotels in 2025.

The REIT is not dead, at least outside the Old Continent.

Special thanks to the EPRA team for their passionate organization of the conference and for the invitation to attend the event.