Global investment manager BentallGreenOak has recruited advisors Eastdil and Vitale to lead the search for new financiers on a €600 mln+ logistics portfolio amassed over the past 12 months, PropertyEU has learned.
The process, which was launched at the beginning of the month and is expected to close by the first half of the year, is believed to have raised strong interest among international banks, alternative lenders, debt funds and insurance companies alike, attracted by the current strong dynamics in the logistics property sector.
The mandate is expected to result in one of the largest property financings of the year and possibly the largest ever underwritten in the Italian logistics property sector, experts say.
BentallGreenOak is looking for a new acquisition and development/capex financing with a loan-to-ratio of about 60% or roughly €360 mln of debt. The loan will be secured against a portfolio of 24 Grade A logistics facilities with modern specifications and representing approximately 1 million m2 of space.
They include a 20,000 m2 cross-docking logistics asset in Inveruno (pictured), in the greater Milan, area, which is fully leased to a major Italian logistics operator and was bought by BentallGreenOak in September last year.
A vast majority of the assets are located in major Northern Italian logistics hubs. More than half of the properties are still to be let with the aim to leverage on the growing current demand for logistic and last mile spaces in Italy.
BentallGreenOak amassed the portfolio through multiple acquisitions from private buyers over the past 12 months. It is believed to have spent over €600 mln to build up the package, which is fully owned through a fund managed by asset manager Dea Capital Real Estate.
All parties declined to comment.
