UAE real estate giant Aldar has joined forces with global investment firm Carlyle to invest $111 mln (€103 mln) in European logistics and storage assets.
Aldar will commit to Carlyle's pan-European real estate platform, Carlyle Europe Realty (CER), and a majority stake in a co-investment platform holding 14 UK warehouses with 83,613 m2 of gross leasable area, all fully occupied.
Additionally, Aldar has invested jointly with Carlyle and other investors in Western European self-storage facilities and development sites.
The investments will enable Aldar to leverage development and asset management expertise to shape the portfolios and also to gain further exposure to the growing logistics and storage segment alongside a proven player like Carlyle.
Talal Al Dhiyebi, Group CEO of Aldar Properties, said: ‘Aldar is pursuing a programmatic, themed investment strategy in Europe, building key relationships that will support our growth in the coming years. In partnering with Carlyle, an established player in European real estate, we are gaining quality access to a real estate segment that offers high yield and steady capital growth, while also gaining the opportunity to bring our expertise to bear. These newly acquired assets will anchor our logistics business as we continue to explore opportunities, locally and international, to build further scale in the coming years.’
Marc-Antoine Bouyer, head of Carlyle Europe Realty, added: ‘We are delighted to enter into a strategic partnership with Aldar, and look forward to benefiting from the firm’s well-established real-estate capabilities and proven development and asset management expertise. We are excited by the opportunity to continue working alongside Aldar to identify development and acquisition opportunities that help scale our platform.’
The partnership with Carlyle follows Aldar’s recent capital commitment to European commercial real estate private credit alongside Ares and Mubadala, and its acquisition of London-based developer, London Square, the first outside the MENA region.
These moves aim to tap into high-growth areas like logistics and international markets, allowing Aldar to diversify revenue streams, geographic presence, and increase platform size.
