European logistics specialist GLP is understood to be targeting €1.5 bn for its third pan-European income logistics fund, PropertyEU has learned.
The vehicle - known as GLP Europe Income Partners III- is believed to have just been launched. Similar to its predecessors, the vehicle has a core-plus investment profile and focuses on industrial and logistics property assets across Europe.
GLP declined to comment on the fund launch.
The move follows the news in January that GLP had exceeded its original target of €1.25 bn in the final close for fund two, GLP Europe Income Partners II (GLP EIP II). The fund, which carried out a first closing in September 2020, secured total equity commitments of €1.6 bn, enabling it to reach €3.2 bn of assets under management (AUM) once fully deployed.
European growth
GLP manages €10 bn of AUM in Europe and has been growing strongly in the past few months. Commenting on the markets where the firm is looking to grow further, Patrick Frank, GLP's head of Germany, told PropertyEU: 'We continue to see strong demand for logistics space right across Europe from distribution companies, retailers and manufacturers, with a particular focus on the UK, Germany, Benelux and the Central Eastern countries. Italy has previously been an underrated region, but we see considerable growth coming through, particularly in the North and around Rome. We also see growth opportunities close to all these countries’ borders. We have an exciting pipeline ahead and will be continuing to announce new developments across Europe in the next few months.'
Last month the firm doubled its platform in Italy with the acquisition of a core portfolio of 10 logistics assets from US asset management giant Blackstone. The so-called Pi Century portfolio was sold for a price of around €260 mln by funds managed by Blackstone’s 35% owned arm Kryalos. It comprises 230,000 m2 of fully-leased assets located near Milan and Lodi, in the Italian cities of Liscate, Massalegno, but also in Turin, Parma and Verona.
The logistics market has seen unparalleled investor demand over the past few months. This has been driven by both yield compression and rental periods getting longer, coupled with further rental growth potential resulting from strong demand and high occupancy rates, according to Frank. 'We see interest in both mega development opportunities as well as final mile. GLP is working hard to develop a consistent development pipeline across Europe to satisfy occupiers’ demand for this type of space at every level. It is important to our investors that our developments offer the highest environmental credentials, and we continue to invest in new designs and pilot new materials to help assets get to net zero,' he added.
