Gazette du midi

Osiris Investissements focuses on Southeast Asia to boost sales

More and more French people are being tempted to invest in property in Thailand or Indonesia for retirement or rental purposes. Osiris, a real estate group based in Toulouse, is targeting this new type of investor. The brand, founded over 25 years ago, specializes in property development, marketing and management. For several years now, the company has been offering real estate investment products in Southeast Asia, promising returns of 7-10%. This activity now generates half of its sales.

The adventure began for Patrick Monti, CEO of Osiris Investissements, in Nouméa, New Caledonia, where the group is still based.
“The idea, at the time, was to sell properties located in France to expatriates, whether investors or people wishing, for example, to house their children during their studies in France,” he explains.

To be closer “to the market, the banks and the notaries”, the structure moved to Toulouse, France, and broadened its offer to include properties in France for expatriates living mainly in Africa. A company dedicated to property administration was created.

Southeast Asia, the new Eldorado for investors?

With the advent of tax exemption laws, Patrick Monti also entered the property development business. Benefiting from the dynamism of the Toulouse region, business remained strong until 2008.

END OF CYCLE

We were at the end of a cycle,” sums up the founder of Osiris Investissements. A real estate development company was set up in Montpellier to take advantage of the city’s dynamism, as well as an asset management company.

DIVERSIFICATION ABROAD

“At the same time, we also took stock of sociological developments and, in particular, the ease with which people now travel,” explains Patrick Monti. That’s when we started doing real estate abroad.” A combination of circumstances led him to develop the business first in Thailand and then in Bali. However, it takes time to set up the offer. “We chose to work with local partners who know the market inside out,” explains Patrick Monti. Two companies are created, in Thailand and Indonesia. “Since then, we’ve been selling properties there to French people, for retirement, investment or to occupy and rent out part of the time,” he explains.
While many French people have already taken the plunge, attracted by the mild climate, “there is room for a structured offer, organized by professionals, because what’s important is support,” asserts Patrick Monti.

TARGETING SENIOR CUSTOMERS

To structure its offering, four years ago the group created a dedicated brand, Osiris Investissements, under which it sold some 180 apartments last year in Thailand (average price in the range of €80-90,000), while some twenty houses were built and sold in Bali.
Osiris Investissements, which employs around 40 people, generated sales of €32 million in 2015, half of which are now in France alone (sales in both existing and new-build properties, including a program currently under construction in Launaguet). Targets for 2016 are 250 sales in Thailand and around 40 homes in Bali.

In the medium term, Patrick Monti’s ambition is to market hotel residences for senior customers in particular, offering a wide range of services that are less prohibitively expensive on site (concierge service, yoga or cooking classes, massages, guide service). After Thailand and Indonesia, other far-flung destinations could be added to the Osiris Investissements catalog, such as Canada, where the group already has a partner. But other avenues are being explored.

Agnès Bergon