Finland’s largest pension fund Keva has formed a joint venture with Mrec Investment Management (IM) to invest in Finnish advanced logistics, warehouse, and industrial properties.
The two parties said commitments already made would soon see the partnership, named Logian, growing its portfolio to €300m.
In the enterprise, Finnish investment advisory firm Mrec IM – which is also a real estate asset manager and project development company – will be responsible for Logian’s operational activities.
Keva, which manages local government as well as other pensions, and Mrec IM said Logian aimed to invest and develop logistics centre networks in key transportation hubs in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Turku and Tampere, and attract “high-quality users with excellent solutions”.
“Current investment commitments allow Logian to expand its portfolio to €300m in the near future,” the partners said.
Keva and Mrec IM said that in its founding phase, Logian had initiated a new logistics project in the Bastukärr area of Sipoo, to build a 20,000sqm property for 3PLogistics.
Carl-Henrik Roselius, real estate investment director at the €65.7bn Helsinki-based pensions institution, said: “Keva’s investment goal is to achieve the best possible return for the pension fund over the long term, utilising both direct investments and the specialised expertise of partners.
“We are very pleased with the collaboration with Mrec IM in establishing Logian and seeing Logian carry out its first acquisition according to its investment strategy,” he said.
At Mrec IM, CEO Ilmo Jäntti said Keva’s involvement would allow flexible financing for current and new projects, as well as offering a long-term partnership for the development of the company.
“We look forward to building Logian together with Keva, taking industry standards to new heights and providing customers with more efficient and sustainable solutions,” he said.
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