Nuveen Real Estate has expanded its European logistics strategy with the launch of a new investment platform.

The manager said it has so far raised €250m from a number of German institutional investors for the new platform which plans to invest €700-800m in the long-term.

Nuveen said all the initial capital backers are already invested in the manager’s other logistics strategies.

The first European Logistics mandate, closed earlier this year, was launched in 2016 and invested over €620m across 21 assets in key European locations.

Focusing on creating a diversified portfolio of assets across core countries, including Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as additional European locations, the strategy is targeting high quality, modern logistics properties that are suited to all industrial uses.

Timothy Horrocks, head of continental Europe for Nuveen Real Estate, said Nuveen’s current investment in European logistics stands at around €3bn, representing a 12% weighting across its European real estate assets under management.

“The launch of this new latest strategy will help us to reach our goal of a 15% allocation to the logistics sector, equating to around €4bn, over the next 18 months.”

Nuveen’s global logistics portfolio represents €15.4bn assets under management.

Thorsten Kiel, head of European Logistics for Nuveen Real Estate, said: “We have had a great amount of interest from investors in our earlier logistics strategies and were able to deploy the invested capital across core European locations, which we believe are best placed to provide rental growth and strong return for our investors.

“With this additional launch, we are looking to build upon this existing track record, targeting prime assets in key industrial locations across Europe and constructing a diversified portfolio designed to benefit from structural trends.”

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