Crossbay, the pan-European logistics platform focusing on single-tenant distribution centres, has secured €550 mln in equity commitments from a global mix of major investors.
The parties committing equity include anchor investor the Townsend Group, on behalf of its special situations mandates; CBRE Global Investment Partners, on behalf of a special situations strategy; Nuveen; Credit Suisse Asset Management and QInvest.
Crossbay was launched in May this year by private equity real estate investment manager Mark, formerly Meyer Bergman, which started investing in last mile logistics in 2018. The platform is led by Marco Riva, who was previously at Logicor.
Marcus Meijer, CEO of Mark, said: 'By investing in creating a branded platform, and focusing on a specific niche within the increasingly competitive last mile logistics sector, we have managed to secure interest from leading investors across the globe despite the pandemic.
'Our focus going forward will be to maintain the current pace of acquisitions to build a portfolio of sufficient size and scale. Looking ahead, we see further opportunities within logistics real estate and will be looking to grow our exposure to this asset class, which has clear long-term growth drivers that are underpinned by the mega-trends of urbanisation and technological change.'
The successful capital raise will help fund the platform's continued growth and expansion, with a focus on assets in key geographies such as France, Germany and the Benelux region. The platform is targeting up to €1.5 bn in gross asset value, having already secured over €500 mln in assets under management, including near-term pipeline.
Crossbay's current tenant base includes a mix of 3PLs such as FedEx and DHL as well as e-commerce brands such as Amazon.
Riva said: 'Urban logistics was already attracting the interest of institutional investors before Covid-19, with consumers increasingly shopping online thanks to improvements to smartphone and mobile internet technology.
'However, small lot sizes had made the urban logistics sector difficult to access for institutional investors, who typically want scale, which is why we created Crossbay. Our strategy has been vindicated by the successful capital raise from a geographically diverse, high profile investor base that will support our growth in key target geographies.'
Jan van Bakel, head of transactions for continental Europe, CBRE Global Investment Partners, commented: 'Last mile logistics is one of our preferred investment themes, based on increased e-commerce demand, which is further fuelled by the Covid19 impact, and restricted supply due to land scarcity in the largest European urban areas.
'To access this strategy in scale, with like-minded investors and a significant seed portfolio already in place, provides for a special investment opportunity. We look forward to collaborating with Mark and our partners to build out the Crossbay platform.'
