UK - Goodman and Europa Capital have entered into a joint venture to acquire land sites in the UK for the development of distribution and logistics properties.
The global real estate group and European opportunity fund manager will invest in land in prime locations with outline planning permission, with a view to developing logistics facilities on a pre-let basis.
The joint venture will actively seek to recycle assets and has the capacity to invest as much as £60m (€69m) at any given time, focusing particularly on land in the Midlands and South East, with investment opportunities sourced separately to Goodman's existing UK logistics land bank.
Goodman said it would use its expertise in warehouse and distribution development, master planning and property management to develop comprehensive and sustainable logistics properties.
The developments will range from 50,000 square feet upwards and cater for the future needs of logistics service providers, the company added.
The first land site to be acquired is a 16-acre site in Aylesford, Kent, located close to the M25 and M20 motorways, for which Goodman and Europa were expected to submit a detailed planning application within the next month.
The joint venture will also help facilitate the ongoing expansion of Goodman's logistics business in the UK.
Greg Goodman, chief executive, said: "This platform reinforces the momentum that continues to build across our UK business.
"The joint venture demonstrates our focus on developing strategic relationships with leading investor groups, such as Europa Capital, to deliver our key objective of matching new third-party capital with Goodman's development pipeline."
Europa Capital has already invested in land for residential development in the UK this year - through its joint venture with St Congar Land, it recently acquired 100 acres of green field land. The latest joint venture sees the fund manager move into logistics development.
