Real estate investor Cain International is merging with smaller investor Blackbrook Capital to strengthen its presence in the European net lease and logistics market.
Cain, which manages $15bn (€14bn) in real estate equity and debt across Europe and the US, alongside $1bn in private equity focused on global lifestyle and leisure sectors, is combining with Blackbrook’s $1bn portfolio of 41 assets across eight countries in Europe.
Under the new structure, Blackbrook will operate as a subsidiary of Cain and will continue to ”focus on future-proof supply chain infrastructure”, including logistics investment and development as well as net lease, build-to-suit and sale-leaseback transactions across Europe, Cain said.
Blackbrook was founded in March 2020, by Arvi Luoma as CEO and Gordon DuGan, and has since established itself as a key player in the European industrial, logistics, and net lease sectors. As part of the deal, Luoma will lead Cain’s European equity investment strategies, reporting to Jonathan Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of Cain International.
Goldstein said: “This is an exciting milestone in the ongoing growth and development of Cain’s business. We are confident that Blackbrook’s deep expertise will significantly bolster the firm’s strengths as we continue to expand our reach across the European alternatives sectors.”
Last year, Cain completed the construction of its first logistics portfolio spanning seven sites in the UK. The combined strategies hold a portfolio of logistics assets of over 10m sqft across Europe.
Luoma said: “Since Blackbrook’s launch in 2020, we’ve built a strong track record of acquiring and developing mission critical net lease real estate, as well as Class-A logistics assets in core locations with material supply-demand imbalance.
”This next chapter is an exciting one and I, along with Gordon, look forward to helping drive new synergies across the Cain and Blackbrook teams to further enhance and grow our combined pan-European strategies.”
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