Real estate investment manager Barings has sold two warehouses totalling 90,000 m2 in Mantua, Italy.
The warehouses were part of a pan-European logistics joint venture (PELV) and were sold on behalf of an Italian real estate fund managed by Savills IM SGR. The buyer is a fund managed by a German investment manager.
Both warehouses are fully leased to major logistics tenants at above-market rates. Barings obtained LEED Gold certification for the facilities, which were purchased in two phases in 2022 through a forward commitment with a local developer.
The warehouses are situated in a well-established logistics area within the Verona core logistics sub-market, just 2 kilometers from the A22 motorway, following the relocation of international companies to the region.
Marco Corti, managing director and country head at Barings Real Estate, said: ‘This is the third exit for the fund and the first in Italy following two successful exits in France and reinforces our conviction in the attractiveness of the logistics market in Italy. We are very interested in acquiring additional logistics assets in Italy, whether in joint ventures with developers or straightforward acquisitions of projects.’
Gunther Deutsch, managing director and head of European Transactions at Barings Real Estate, commented: ‘Our focus across Europe remains on logistics and living, for our investors in our target markets: France, Germany, the Netherlands, the Nordics, the UK, Iberia and Italy.’
Faustino Musicco, head of Logistics, Last Mile & Data Centers (Italy) and co-head of Industrial & Logistics Practice Group (EMEA) at Colliers, added: ‘We are pleased to have assisted Barings and Savills IM SGR in this transaction, building a structured and efficient selection process that has resulted in what is likely the largest logistics deal by volume in the Italian market in the first half of 2024.’
Colliers served as Baring’s advisor on this transaction.
Barings and Savills are now developing another warehouse of approximately 37,000 square metres in the same location.
In February, Barings acquired, through an existing Italian real estate fund managed by Savills IM SGR, a 70,000 square metre parcel of land in San Giorgio Bigarello, Mantua, from a private Italian company on behalf of its second real estate European value-add fund (BREEVA II).
The scheme allows for the speculative development of 37,000 square metres of Grade A logistics warehousing, for which the site already has planning consent.
