US privately-held developer-investor Hines is seeking exposure to the logistics and living asset classes in France as part of a wider strategic move into these sectors across Europe, PropertyEU can reveal.
Hines is targeting a portfolio of around €2 bn of logistics and residential assets in the country over the next two years, Xavier Musseau, the new president of Hines France told PropertyEU in an interview.
‘We are working on three deals at the moment and for one we are within weeks of closing it,’ said Musseau, who assumed the position at the beginning of October. When he first joined Hines in 2000, Musseau, aged 52, headed up the finance and acquisition team and was then promoted to managing director in 2013, when he put together a team responsible for investment management activities, covering the supervision of acquisitions, asset management and project financing.
‘The objective is that these assets – logistics and living - will together represent one third of our portfolio in two years' time. We realize this programme is ambitious but we can take advantage of the skills of our dedicated teams and also, we can act both on the investment as well as on the development side.’
The company currently manages €6.2 bn of assets in the country, including €1 bn of high-street retail assets and a majority of offices.
Investments will largely be made through Hines' two European funds: the Hines Pan European Core Fund set up to acquire core assets driven by revenue, and the Hines European Value Fund, a closed fund with an opportunist acquisition strategy across all asset categories.
With regards to logistics, the firm will seek to build up a last-mile logistics platform focused on major assets in the largest cities of Paris and Lyon, Musseau said, while in the residential sector the focus will be on private rented sector assets in France’s eight largest cities.
According to Hines, its HECF and HEVF funds both have significant pipelines of build to rent and residential projects, and sees its property management platform, Hines European Living Management (HELM), which includes the aparto student living brand, increasing its operational presence across Europe.
