Privately held investment firm Cain International has announced that it will merge with Blackbrook Capital (Blackbrook), as the firms expand their reach across European alternatives markets.
The merged entity will retain the name Cain International and bring the firms’ combined assets under management to over $17 bn with the teams working together at new global headquarters located at 72 Welbeck Street in London.
As of 1 May 2024, Arvi Luoma, co-founder and CEO of Blackbrook, will lead Cain’s European equity investment strategies, reporting to Jonathan Goldstein, CEO of Cain. Luoma brings nearly 20 years of investment experience across all major real estate asset classes in over 20 countries worldwide.
In March 2020, he and Gordon DuGan, former CEO of Gramercy Property Trust, co-founded Blackbrook, quickly establishing it as a major player in the European industrial, logistics, and net lease sectors.
Under the new structure, Blackbrook will continue operating as a subsidiary of Cain, and the Blackbrook portfolio will be managed by Cain’s investment adviser. Its focus will continue on future-proof supply chain infrastructure, including logistics investment & development as well as net lease, build to suit and sale-leaseback transactions across Europe, with the investments team led by Jon Strang. Blackbrook currently holds a diverse pan-European portfolio, totalling 41 assets across eight countries.
In 2023, Cain completed the construction development of its inaugural logistics portfolio comprising seven sites in the UK. Combined, the strategies hold approximately 10 million ft2 of logistics assets under management across Europe.
Jonathan Goldstein, CEO and co-founder of Cain International, said: 'This is an exciting milestone in the ongoing growth and development of Cain’s business. We are confident that Blackbrook’s deep expertise will significantly bolster the firm’s strengths as we continue to expand our reach across the European alternatives sectors.'
Arvi Luoma, CEO and co-founder of Blackbrook Capital, said: 'Since Blackbrook’s launch in 2020, we’ve built a strong track record of acquiring and developing mission critical net lease real estate, as well as Class-A logistics assets in core locations with material supply-demand imbalance. This next chapter is an exciting one and I, along with Gordon, look forward to helping drive new synergies across the Cain and Blackbrook teams to further enhance and grow our combined pan-European strategies.'
