Moorfield Group and Peloton Real Estate have teamed up to invest in open-storage logistics facilities in the UK.
Moorfield, investing on behalf of its Moorfield Real Estate Fund V, is the majority investor in the joint venture. Peloton will mainly be responsible for identifying acquisitions and operating the portfolio.
The newly created venture, which expects to put together an initial £100m (€118.2m) portfolio, has invested £4m to acquire an 11.4-acre site in Garston, Liverpool as its first asset.
The pair said the venture will “focus on assembling a geographically and occupationally diverse portfolio” of sites, with the aim of “generating a secure income profile”, while adding value through active asset management initiatives.
Chris Perera, a senior investment manager at Moorfield Group, said: “As an established asset manager with multi-sector experience and a UK-wide footprint, Peloton is an ideal fit for us as a strategic partner. Factors including very affordable rental levels and favourable underlying market dynamics, including an acute demand-supply imbalance, make this both a highly defensive and growth asset class.
“The partnership continues our track record of pioneering institutional investment in less-established sectors, which are supported by demographic and technological trends, alongside best-in-class operators.”
Nick Okell, an investment director at Peloton Real Estate, said open storage logistics is a “hugely valuable and fast-growing sub-sector” of the industrial market and one that is critical to supporting the growth of the economy.
”We look forward to aggregating a diversified portfolio by location, size and tenant, seeded with this attractive acquisition.”
David Tyson, director of asset management at Peloton Real Estate, said the acquired site is close to major transport infrastructure including Garston Docks and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, as well as a number of major manufacturing companies including JLR and Ford.
“Open storage land is a scarce commodity, and this acquisition provides a necessary resource to support the expansion of these businesses.”
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