Logistics specialist Clarion Gramercy has invested €100 mln in two portfolios of eight logistics properties and a single warehouse in the Netherlands – its first deals since US giant Clarion Partners acquired the company earlier this year.
Comprising 78,523 m2, one portfolio comprises two warehouses in the key logistics hub of Tilburg near the Belgian border and one in the port city of Rotterdam.
The other portfolio is made up of five warehouse properties totalling 44,000 m2 in North Brabant - one of the most populous parts of the country - which was acquired on a sale and leaseback basis. It consists of three properties and one which is in development in Katwijk, and also an under-construction property in Haps. Third-party logistics firm Nabuurs B.V has agreed 10-year leases on all the properties.
In the third transaction, Gramercy has acquired via sale and leaseback a 20,132 m2 warehouse from tyre distributor FM Tyres in Venlo, another logistiscs hub located near the German border.
Welcoming the acquisitions, Rory Buck, senior director of Clarion Gramercy, said: ‘We continue to grow our logistics exposure in the Netherlands, with the strong performance of the domestic economy underpinning the e-commerce sector’s upward trajectory.
‘While we are seeing growing competition from investors seeking to benefit from the strong rental growth that is forecast in certain pockets of Western Europe, we are well placed, as these acquisitions demonstrate, to source and acquire a diverse range of logistics properties, maintaining both our enviable rate of deploying available proceeds and our significant outperformance.
‘These latest acquisitions fit with our stated strategy of acquiring functional logistics assets in prime locations that are let to established pan-European businesses and where we believe there is an opportunity to drive returns through various asset management strategies. dditionally, in Venlo, a sought-after European distribution hotspot, we have added FedEx, one of the world’s largest third party logistics providers, to our already stellar tenant base at a yield which we believe is extremely attractive in the current market.’
US investor Clarion acquired Gramercy in April this year, as part of a strategy to break into Europe. The company has $51 bn (€46 bn) assets under management.
Clarion CEO David Gilbert told PropertyEU at the time of the takeover: ‘It’s something we’ve been contemplating for a long time and the catalyst now is the strength of the logistics market.
‘We are confident that the trends which have created outsized demands for the latest breed of logistics facilities will continue and we’d like to get ahead of that wave. This will be a very long-term commitment by Clarion.'
Gramercy was advised by JLL and Industrial Real Estate Partners.
