Invesco Real Estate has increased its strategic investment in Logistics Capital Partners (LCP), a pan-European sector specialist.

Last year, Invesco invested in LCP to help the company expand and built up a €1bn portfolio of logistics assets.

Invesco said it was increasing the investment through its strategic opportunities programme to strengthen LCP’s balance sheet for new developments and to grow its team “across key logistics markets in Europe”.

Invesco said LCP had been active since its initial investment, winning new development projects, buying land and hiring across Belgium, France, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain.

Bert Crouch, managing director of portfolio management at Invesco, said: “Following the impressive successes that LCP has achieved since beginning our partnership in late-2018, including winning new projects from key international occupiers, the opportunity to increase our investment is the right business decision for us.”

LCP was established in 2015 by James Markby, CBRE’s former head of European industrial and logistics investments, and Kristof Verstraeten, a former European director for Goodman.

“Their niche approach within this fast-growing market fits well with our strategic approach and we continue to be impressed with the growth of their business overall in terms of AUM, pipeline access as well as their growing team of high-calibre experts,” Crouch said.

“This investment ultimately increases the opportunity for long-term, secure income and attractive total returns for our underlying clients to whom we have a fiduciary responsibility.”