KKR has made an investment of around A$200m (€133m) for a majority stake in a new industrial and logistics fund launched by Australian property investment manager Centennial Property Group.
The Build 2 Core (B2C) Partnership Fund has also attracted a US institution, a long-standing global investor in the sector with Centennial.
The fund, which will have a target portfolio of A$650m has also raised A$50m from other existing investor base in a vehicle that sits alongside the Centennial principals co-investment.
Paul Ford, Centennial’s executive director and CEO industrial and logistics, told IPE Real Assets KKR had previously partnered with Centennial on its Industrial & Logistics Portfolio Fund (CLIP1) when it was launched just in late 2020.
The new B2C Partnership Fund would allow the partnership to execute a”new and differentiated” strategy, which would develop and hold a range of warehouse and logistics properties, he said.
This fund had identified a “niche and underserviced” sector of the market, said Ford.
Three seed assets had already been secured on Australia’s eastern seaboard for the new fund. Located in Victoria and Queensland, they have a combined existing site area of nearly 150,000qm with a level of existing income that allows for a staged development. On completion, he said the assets would have an end value of A$201m.
Centennial has deployed the majority of the A$500m capacity in CLIP1. That fund’s strategy was in the value add space. “We have another 12 months to 18 months to go before all assets are stabilised.”
Asked about the intense competition for logistic assets, Ford said Centennial had the experience of acquiring more than 55 properties in the last three years and he believed the new fund would be able to leverage from the company’s specialist national platform.
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