AMB Property Corporation has created a euro-denominated open-end fund to invest in distribution facilities near major airports, seaports and motorways in Europe. The AMB Europe Fund I will also seek opportunities in the major metropolitan areas of Europe. The target markets cover large portions of the Continent - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and Central and Eastern Europe.
AMB Property Corporation has created a euro-denominated open-end fund to invest in distribution facilities near major airports, seaports and motorways in Europe. The AMB Europe Fund I will also seek opportunities in the major metropolitan areas of Europe. The target markets cover large portions of the Continent - Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and Central and Eastern Europe.
The fund, supported by an initial group of 20 institutional investors, has a gross asset value of EUR 660 mln, which includes EUR 439 mln of investments in properties. The total equity investment by the investor's group EUR 263 mln. ABM said the company's equity commitment of approximately 20%, and a targeted leverage ratio of 60% of the aggregate gross value of the fund's assets, will permit the fund to acquire a total of approximately EUR 820 mln in assets
Currently, the fund has total long-term secured debt of EUR 270 mln. As the fund is open-ended, AMB has committed to make additional investments in the fund as necessary to maintain its ownership percentage.
'We entered Europe in 2002 and since then, our on-the-ground team has been actively developing and acquiring highly efficient and strategically located facilities in several of the continent's key markets tied to global trade,' commented Hamid Moghadam, AMB's chairman and CEO. AMB's Europe portfolio totals approximately 720,000 m2 of operating and development facilities. The company's Europe team - comprised of development, acquisition, customer development, property operations and portfolio management professionals - is based in Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris.
The investment focus of the Fund is to acquire stabilized industrial distribution properties, including those developed by AMB. At closing, the fund owned 38 distribution facilities totalling 439,000 m2 that had previously been acquired or developed by AMB. AMB's current development pipeline in Europe includes an additional 281,000 m2 that will likely be contributed to the fund.
'The success in the US of AMB Institutional Alliance Fund III's open-end structure supports our decision to use this approach for AMB Europe Fund I. AMB continues to meet private capital demand for co-investment opportunities that capitalize on the long-term growth of global trade,' John Roberts Jr, president of AMB Capital Partners, said.
