Oxford Properties and AustralianSuper’s new European industrial partnership has acquired an €80m portfolio in France from PGIM Real Estate’s European core-plus strategy and Alderan, a French real estate manager.
Oxford Properties-owned M7 Real Estate, which manages the recently created European Supply Chain Income Partnership (ESCIP), has acquired the 109,000sqm portfolio of four industrial and logistics assets located in distribution hubs including Lyon, Marseille, Nancy and Angers.
The portfolio, which is 83% let, has been acquired from a joint venture in which PGIM Real Estate holds a 90% stake.
In January, the A$355bn (€200bn) AustralianSuper acquired a 50% stake in M7, Oxford Properties’ €840m European industrial and logistics portfolio and fund manager.
Through the ESCIP partnership, the Australian superannuation fund and the real estate arm of Canadian pension fund OMERS expect to develop a €4.5bn warehouse portfolio over the next three to five years.
At the time, the parties said M7, the investment and asset manager Oxford Properties acquired in 2021, will oversee sourcing and executing new opportunities for the strategy, which aims to generate income-led exposure across the pan-European supply chain.
The French deal is M7’s third investment on behalf of the ESCIP platform following two acquisitions in the Greater Manchester area earlier this year worth around £60m (€69.3m) in total.
Matthew Fidge, investment director at AustralianSuper, said: ”This [French] portfolio acquisition highlights our conviction in our European multi-let logistics strategy, as well the benefit of the M7 Platform’s established capability in the French market.
“AustralianSuper looks forward to working with our partners to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns for our members, and are ambitious to continue this momentum as we seek to further scale the ESCIP portfolio alongside the Oxford and M7 teams.”
Alicia Peters, VP, industrial and logistics at Oxford Properties, said: ”Having partnered with AustralianSuper at the beginning of the year to grow the ESCIP portfolio and the M7 Real Estate platform, this first acquisition in Europe is an important step in achieving that goal while giving us exposure to key French logistics markets outside of Paris which complement our existing portfolio.
“This transaction underscores both M7’s ability to source and execute the acquisition of high-quality, well-located assets across Europe and reflects our continued conviction in the industrial and logistics sector.”
John Pow, managing director at M7 Real Estate, said: “Following the completion of Oxford and AustralianSuper’s joint venture earlier this year, we are now focused on executing our growth strategy for the platform. This milestone transaction underscores our conviction in the sector and our view on the French market, as we look to scale the joint venture’s portfolio and continue deploying capital into high-growth markets across the UK and western Europe.
“Our immediate focus is on undertaking our property level asset management plans, leveraging M7’s expertise and on the ground presence to capitalise on the continued demand for logistics space in the French market.”
Nabil Mabed, head of France, Spain & Portugal at PGIM Real Estate, said: “We acquired this portfolio in an off-market transaction during COVID in 2020 and have created significant value through asset management hand in hand with our operating partner Alderan.
“We are happy to complete a strong exit for our European core plus strategy in a market where overall transaction volumes are still low. This is a demonstration of the resilience of the French logistics market and of the quality of the portfolio which has a potential for further value creation under M7’s ownership.”
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