The Hines European Core Fund (HECF) has acquired six logistics assets in the Randstad area in Aalsmeer, Honselersdijk and Rijnsburg in the Netherlands.

The business parks, on which the assets are located, are majority owned and managed by Royal FloraHolland (RFH), the world’s largest floriculture marketplace.

The buildings, spanning 92,000sqm, are fully leased to six occupiers operating within the Netherlands’ floriculture trade market on long-term contracts.

They are clustered near the three major Dutch flower auction sites, providing access to high concentrations of wholesale and retail flower vendors and purchasers.

Andy Smith, managing director and country head for the Netherlands at Hines, said: “The portfolio aggregation of these fully leased properties builds on our investment, development and management platform in Dutch logistics.

“The agricultural and floricultural logistics market is undergoing substantial consolidation, transformation and modernisation while remaining among the most resilient segments of a turbulent economy.

“We are proud to support our tenants in their continued success and we look forward to maintaining and improving the quality of these business critical assets through long term value creation via our property management initiatives.”

Simone Pozzato, managing director and HECF fund manager, said: “Our European core-fund, HECF, completed the first phase of its aggregation of six fully occupied last-mile logistics assets in the highly sought-after Randstad area in the Netherlands, via four off-market and one direct market acquisitions, achieving a considerable portfolio size, at an attractive entry yield.

“Our ability to source and aggregate opportunities off market through our strong local teams has enabled us to decisively spot value and quickly close in prime occupier locations.

“To add further value on behalf of our investors, we will also seek to provide property management services and implement strategic ESG improvements aiming to reduce carbon emissions and increase efficiency.”

Hines said it completed €797m of logistics transactions in Europe in 2022, taking its European logistics assets under management to €3bn.

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