Blackstone spends €240m to enter Polish logistics market

LogiCor, Blackstone's newly created logistics platform, has made its first foray into Poland with the acquisition of two portfolios totalling 402,000 m2 from joint venture partners Panattoni Europe and Pramerica Real Estate Investors.

The move follows a string of acquisitions in the past 12 to 18 months, in particular in France and the UK where the US private equity giant has bought assets from Prologis and Gecina among others.

Earlier this year, Blackstone appointed former AMB Europe boss Mo Barzegar as the new CEO and president at LogiCor, a signal according to market watchers that an IPO may be in the works.

The Polish portfolios were sold separately and the financial details of the transactions were not disclosed. However, the total investment volume is thought to have come to about €240 mln, according to well-informed market sources.

LogiCor, together with its affiliates, now owns 2.5 million m2 in 91 high-quality properties in the UK, France and Poland and the value of the platform is believed to be well in excess of €1 bn.

LogiCor bought the first Polish portfolio in October 2012, financing the deal with a loan provided by Bank Pekao, part of Unicredit. The portfolio consists of four core projects, totalling 218,000 m2 of space and situated in good locations in Warsaw, Poznen, Turek and Torun. The assets are multi-let on short-term leases.

The second portfolio, purchased in December 2012, consists of nine newly built logistics assets throughout Poland, totalling 184,000 m2.

This portfolio, let to a single tenant with long leases, was co-developed with Pramerica Real Estate Investors, the European arm of the real estate investment management and advisory business of US-based Prudential Financial. German bank Helaba provided the debt financing for the acquisition as sole lender.

Mo Barzegar, president and CEO of LogiCor Europe said in a statement that the Polish market for modern, efficient industrial properties continues to strengthen. ‘We look forward to working with our tenants to support their growing needs for high-quality logistics and light industrial real estate.’

The transactions with Blackstone follow the disposal in October of Panattoni Park Ozarow and Panattoni Park Pruszkow to RREEF Real Estate for €54 mln.

Robert Dobrzycki, managing partner for Central Europe at Panattoni Europe told PropertyEU the latest transaction was in line with the partners’ strategy to develop logistics properties and sell them after completion.

‘We knew that Blackstone was looking for more assets in Poland after building up a retail portfolio in the country. We contacted them as we thought they might be interested in the properties,’ Dobrzycki said. Panattoni Europe plans to redeploy the proceeds in logistics properties in central and Eastern Europe, he added.

According to Dobrzycki, logistics is increasingly in demand among investors as a result of the higher yields provided, which in Poland range between 7.5 and 9%.

‘Logistics is becoming a more interesting asset class across Continental Europe. In Central Europe, where Poland is perceived as the most established market, the lack of new developments since 2008 has led to a reduction of the vacancy rate and resulted in pressing demand on the occupier side. This obviously fuels foreign investors’ interest,’ he concluded.