A newly formed joint veture between Boreal IM and Cadillac Fairview has acquired an industrial park in Park Royal, West London UK and another in the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, for a total of €250 mln.
The two deals are the first for the JV, which was formed earlier this year to source acquisitions across Europe, with a focus on the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain and Italy. It will target properties right across the risk spectrum, from standing assets to ground-up development.
The JV is seeking to assemble a €3 bn pan-European logistics portfolio and plans to also harness technology to measure and benchmark the carbon footprint of every asset, with a view to upgrading the designs and energy systems where necessary.
Jenny Hammarlund, head of Europe and managing director at Cadillac Fairview said: 'Cadillac Fairview is focused on expanding its global real estate holdings and Europe is a key part of this.
'Our partnership with Boreal enables us to team up with a best-in-class group of professionals with highly relevant experience, to build up a significant exposure to the European logistics and last-mile sectors, which continue to have good underlying fundamentals underpinned by strong demand for best-in-class ESG driven assets.
'We look forward to working closely with Boreal to continue to grow this strategy over the coming years.'
In London, the JV has acquired Nucleus, an estate of four warehouses in Park Royal from fund manager abrdn. Park Royal is located between London Heathrow Airport and the capital and is home to more than 1,700 businesses.
Constructed between 1999 and 2003, the assets comprise a total of 131,000 ft2 (12,000 m2) and are fully leased to a diverse range of occupiers including DPD.
In Rotterdam, the JV has acquired an estate of six warehouses in the heart of the Port of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest seaport. The warehouses – constructed in 2006 – comprise more than 1 million ft2and are fully leased to a range of occupiers involved in port-led distribution activities.
Louis-Simon Ferland, founder and partner at Boreal IM said: 'The acquisition of these assets marks the first step in our mandate with Cadillac Fairview. We will be focusing on assets across core European locations where fundamentals support outsized demand for logistics assets.
'Both of these acquisitions have been driven by our focus on making thematic investments by closely analysing macroeconomic trends and identifying paradigm shifts. Our aim is to drive long-term returns for our investor and both of these deals have in place the right characteristics to deliver this.'
