Oxford Properties has made its first investments in Spain with the acquisition of seven urban logistics assets.

The global real estate investor said the acquisitions, which were made via three separate transactions, were sourced and secured through its portfolio company M7 Real Estate.

The assets, acquired throughout the second and third quarters of the year, include five urban logistics properties totalling 60,000sqm located in Barcelona and Bilbao; a 26,000sqm warehouse in Tarragona, Catalonia; and a 3,100sqm urban logistics asset in Santa Perpetua, Barcelona.

Oxford Properties said M7 will ”undertake an active asset management strategy to upgrade the sustainability performance” of the assets as well as ”value-add capital expenditure initiatives” to improve the space.

Oxford Properties has invested over €1.8bn gross through M7 since acquiring the pan-European platform in September last year. At the time of the acquisition, Oxford Properties said it was making the acquisition as part of plans to deploy £3bn (€3.8bn) into multi-let industrial and urban logistics across Europe.

David Ebberell, CEO of M7 Real Estate, said: “Having now invested around €1.8bn in the year since we were acquired by Oxford, these latest transactions provide a further strong endorsement of our working relationship and our ability to help Oxford deliver its global logistics ambitions.

“In this case, Oxford has entered the Spanish market for the first time and added seven very well located urban logistics assets in the supply-constrained markets of Barcelona, Bilbao and Tarragona to its portfolio, all bar one of which benefit from uncapped annual CPI increases providing a hedge in the current inflationary environment.”

James Boadle, senior vice president, Europe at Oxford Properties, said: “Since acquiring M7 last year we have worked alongside their best in class management team to unlock opportunities and deploy significant capital into one of our highest global conviction asset classes.

“The insight and local expertise M7 provides has enabled us to make our first investments in Spain as we expand our European logistics platform, with a focus on assets that will continue to deliver strong returns to our members in this current macro-economic backdrop.”

Established in 1960, Oxford Properties is the real estate arm of Canadian pension fund OMERS. Oxford Properties and its portfolio companies manage C$80bn (€59bn) of assets across four continents on behalf of their investment partners.

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