Private equity giant Blackstone may be on the brink of selling or listing its European logistics arm, Logicor, according to those who track the market.
A sale would be timely, given that interest in the logistics sector is at an all-time high. As Kevin Mofid head of commercial research at Savills in the UK, summed it up at PropertyEU’s recent Logistics Briefing: ‘Logistics is a truly globalised, established asset class that people want to access. The biggest driver is going to be what Amazon does next – they’re at the bleeding edge.’
Mo Barzegar, CEO and president of Logicor, could not be reached for comment. If Blackstone does decide to offload Logicor - which is valued at around €11 bn, including debt - interest is likely to be intense, not least because it has built up a portfolio of around 12.72 mln m2 since its inception in 2012, focusing on markets such as Germany, France, the UK and the Nordics.
In March it acquired 12 logistics assets from Goodman European Partnership, a logistics investment vehicle, for an undisclosed sum. The 496,000 m2 portfolio comprised six assets in Germany, three in Spain and three in the Benelux region.
Driving interest in the sector is the recent explosion in e-commerce, which soared by almost 20% last year in Europe alone. In addition, GDP growth in the EU, which is expected to rise by 1.7% this year, is fuelling demand for warehouse space. As Mofid put it, ‘I heard someone say recently that “property is the least worst asset class” and, that within that, “logistics is the best asset class to invest in”’. Around €14.41 bn was invested in logistics in Europe last year, slightly down on 2014, according to Savills.
It would not be the first time that Blackstone has mulled a logistics IPO. In 2014, Blackstone abandoned plans to float its US logistics platform, IndoCor Properties, in favour of selling it to Singapore’s GIC for €6.52 bn.
If Blackstone does sell Logicor, it will boost its already gargantuan war chest – the group’s real estate arm had $31.2 bn (€27.97 bn) of ‘dry powder’ waiting to be invested at the end of the last quarter. The Blackstone Group had $101 bn of real estate AUM globally as of end-March 2016.
