Frankfurt-listed property investor DIC Asset has launched its debut logistics property fund, in cooperation with its recently acquired subsidiary RLI Investors.
In addition to what DIC calls 'classic profitable logistics real estate', the RLI-GEG Logistics & Light Industrial III fund vehicle will invest into light industrial and urban logistics real estate.
Germany will be the fund's absolute core market, supplemented by Benelux and Austria as established European markets 'next door'. This means that DIC Asset will invest beyond Germany for the first time.
Sonja Wärntges, CEO of DIC said: 'I am delighted to see that the cooperation with the highly regarded experts of RLI Investors is producing results so quickly and that we are now launching our first logistics fund.
'We thereby offer our investors exposure to an absolute future market and open up further growth prospects for our already successful company.'
Structured as an open-ended special alternative investment fund (AIF), the vehicle rates its risk profile as core / core plus and seeks a total investment volume of €400 mln. Its maturity will be ten to twelve years’ maximum, while the targeted annual distribution is 4.5% to 5.0%.
Added Wärntges: 'We are demonstrating here how exceptionally well the competencies of RLI Investors complement our management platform. The fact that we went to the market with this product within just a few weeks of integrating RLI Investors makes it clear what we mean by 'dynamic performance'.
'We have reacted quickly, collaborated creatively, leveraged our networks in the market and now offer institutional investors a seed portfolio of the highest quality.'
According to DIC, the fund has already amassed a seed portfolio of four logistics assets located in leading logistics regions of Germany, with a combined volume of €132 mln.
Other properties are undergoing pre-acquisition due diligence, with the fund considering standing properties and new-build units, portfolios as well as property developments with high alternative use potential. The acquisition volume per asset ranges from €15-75 mln. The special AIF is expected to reach its target volume within a three-year period.
The administration of the fund will be handled by Hansainvest, a third-party AIFM. RLI Investors belongs to DIC since December 2020, and will continue to pursue other logistics opportunities, DIC said.
