The Boreal IM & Cadillac Fairview joint venture has acquired a 142,000 m2 logistics portfolio in the Netherlands for an undisclosed sum.
Purchased from Europa Capital and JV partner ARC Real Estate Partners, the portfolio comprises 15 warehouses across four regions, with the majority being last-mile distribution centres.
Most were built in the last 15 years, while two last-mile assets in Amsterdam were completed earlier this year.
Local sources suggested the value of the deal is around €150 mln.
The assets are located in densely populated and supply constrained markets, mostly in the Randstad metropolitan area where 8.4 mln people live and which has a GDP per capita 60% above the Euro Area average.
Europa's Dutch Light Industrial Platform (DLIP) with Arc was created in 2021. The London-based firm made the investment on behalf of its value add fund, Europa Fund VI.
Jason Oram, partner and fund manager at Europa said: 'The sale of DLIP is in line with our business plan and generates strong returns for the fund’s investors. Since the launch of the platform, we have assembled a portfolio of high quality units, including three assets that we developed speculatively and subsequently leased, which are let to strong occupier covenants, and have increased in value. Working with our local operating partner, Arc Real Estate Partners, we were able to source a buyer for the portfolio off market, demonstrating its institutional appeal.'
James Farmer, partner at Boreal IM, said: ‘This acquisition is a highly strategic one and creates a firm foothold within the Netherlands, one of our key target markets in the build-out of our pan-European portfolio. We were particularly attracted by the low in-place rents, which combined with the leases’ indexation provisions, will offer an attractive combination of defensive cash flows with material medium term upside. It dovetails well with our existing holding in the Netherlands, a 100,000 m2 estate in the Port of Rotterdam. We are able to execute this off-market deal by leveraging our extensive network of contacts and deep level sector expertise, and we continue to evaluate the market in search of attractive investment opportunities.’
Jenny Hammarlund, head of Europe and managing director at Cadillac Fairview, added: ‘Today’s announcement, which sees us acquire a unique group of assets in a strategic market, once again demonstrates the strength of our partnership and joint commitment to growing our logistics portfolio with best-in-class assets and sound ESG practices.’
The portfolio, which is 95% leased to a diverse mix of tenants, has a Weighted Average Lease Break (WALB) of five years.
All the assets are BREEAM certified and the plan is to further enhance them with carbon reducing and tracking technology including LED lighting, solar PVs and renewed HVAC systems.
The JV between the pan-European investment management firm and the real estate arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan aims to assemble a €3bn pan-European logistics portfolio.
This is the third acquisition, following the purchase of the Nucleus Estate in Park Royal, West London, and six warehouses within the Port of Rotterdam, for a combined total of €250 mln.
