Barings has added a €92m logistics portfolio in Sweden to its real estate assets in Scandinavia.

The manager, on behalf of institutional investors, has bought the four fully-let properties in Norrköping in a sale and leaseback deal.

Barings said the acquired portfolio comprises 122,000sqm of net lettable space and is occupied by PostNord TPL.

Prior to the latest acquisition, Barings managed a 16,500sqm portfolio in Scandinavia across a range of sectors including offices, retail and residential with approximately 25,000sqm of space currently under construction in Stockholm.

Thorsten Slytå, MD and head of Scandinavia at Barings, said: “The Swedish logistics sector continues to present attractive opportunities as ecommerce penetration, which is ahead of southern Europe but behind that of the UK and Germany, continues to grow, with the structural drivers supporting it having further accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This portfolio, which has been acquired for our core strategy, is particularly attractive providing an interesting mix of both predominantly core long lease income and the opportunity to grow income and value in the medium term.”

Gunther Deutsch, MD and head of real estate transactions – Europe at Barings, said this transaction demonstrates that, in spite of COVID-19, Barings continues to be active in the investment market, particularly in the logistics space where the company is currently pursuing nine potential transactions.

Deutsch said, having invested more than €600m in logistics across Europe in 2019, this acquisition in Sweden is a great step forward in the region.

“Building on our existing experience in this area, one of our main focuses in 2020 will be sale and leaseback transactions, where we can establish long term relationships with our occupiers.

“In Sweden, we will continue to explore the logistics, office and residential sectors across the risk spectrum from core to value-add.”

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