A US insurer and a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund have doubled their commitment to their pan-European logistics joint venture (PELV) managed by Barings.

Barings said PELV has secured a €200m commitment in addition to the initial €200m equity commitment the joint venture partners invested in 2019, adding that the venture is now targeting a total portfolio size of €1bn of assets.

PELV’s current portfolio comprises a total of 315,000sqm of logistics space in strategic locations in Germany and France, including two recently acquired development projects in Southern France.

Barings said PELV is also in advanced negotiations to acquire a further 170,000sqm in prime southern European locations.

PELV will continue its strategy of targeting core-plus and value-add logistics assets in strong submarkets across Europe, Barings said.

Robert Schneider, managing director, portfolio manager PELV, at Barings, said: “The latest commitment to this joint venture is a strong affirmation in the strength of our ability to source compelling deals on a pan-European basis and in the success of this strategy to date.

“It also demonstrates the continued appetite from investors for Grade A logistics assets that offer attractive risk-return metrics through asset management.”

Nick Pink, the head of Europe real estate portfolio management at Barings, said: “To have doubled the equity and investment capacity of this strategy just two years since launch is a strong endorsement of our research-driven and boots on the ground investment approach, as well as our desire to build long term relationships across asset classes with key strategic partners where we have a strong alignment of interests.”

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